IPL – Season 3: curtain raiser

By Rajadhyax

The DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), season 3, is about to get under way from March 12 onwards and the excitement is palpable. After the security scare of last year, the league comes back to India from its previous South African sojourn. The sponsors have got into the act and hyped it on that very count with every franchise skipper looking into the camera and saying “aapko bahot miss kiya” or we missed you a lot. And to a certain extent we did miss some aspects in season 2.

Finally the IPL is back where it belongs. The cricket crazed nation gears up for the extravaganza and so do the cricketers.

All the teams have started practicing very hard at their respective home grounds. The big stars (like Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and Sanath Jayasuriya) are rubbing shoulders with the lesser knowns (like Nairs, Khadiwales and Jadhavs). The coaches are busy strategising, using their laptops and video equipments. Players are being studied and plans are being set. Nets are in full swing. Grounds are being readied to the utmost extent. Security has been beefed up like never before. Add to that more TV cameras, cheer leaders, presenters, commentators, prize money, sponsorships and you get some idea what it’s going to be.

The booming sixers of a Yuvraj Singh will be complimented by the searing pace of a Brett Lee. The big spins of Warne will be complimented by the deft glances of Tendulkar. There will be a series of sliding stops, spectacular catches, dare-devil run outs, flying stumps, vociferous appeals, raised fingers, and brilliant boundaries to go with a range of goof-ups and mistakes that add to the zing of the occasion.

The sheer amount of money and reputations at stake will just make DLF IPL 3 one of the biggest sporting events of this year in the world. Tickets are selling like hot cakes while sponsors are falling over one another to buy a spot on prime time TV to be shown between the matches. Yes, the faint worry of terrorist threats remains but the sponsoring companies, players, coaches, TV crews and most importantly the people do not seem to care. Threat or not threat they want to enjoy the T20 jamboree!

Film producers do not want to release their big films during IPL. TV channels are holding back the premiers of their new, big-budget programmes. Holiday makers are arranging their schedules to ensure that they do not miss the matches. Travel companies are promising IPL coverage in hotel rooms. Food stall owners near the stadiums are smiling ear to ear. Organisers of major soccer leagues are worried since they have a good fan following in the sub-continent that IPL will hijack (Man U and company have serious competition). Police are a worried lot. And the fans are simply waiting for the action to begin.

Lalit Modi, the Convenor of the show is promising a much bigger event this time, there will be a bigger dash of colour and fire works. He assures us that this time the event will be shown in more number of countries and will have more number of viewers all over the world. In India the following has just increased, if that was possible. The TV coverage is likely to be more dynamic. There will be more sponsored competitions for fans and more interaction with the media. IPL Season 3 is leaving no stone unturned to make it bigger than before – with the promise of adding two more teams for season 4 (wait till 21^st March for that news).

Frankly, the wait and its attendant excitement are nothing short of a full scale World Cup. If someone had said before the IPL started that this form of cricket is going to grab more headlines than its conventional counterpart, he has just been proven right. And to my mind, this is a nice internal competition. Even conventional cricket will have to change to fight for its headlines. Smile, fans, we are in for some fabulous cricket in the days to come.