It is a Fantasy League with one big difference. This one’s for real.
The stars have aligned, all in one place, and the show is about to begin. If you’re looking for sophisticated, placid entertainment you’ve come to the wrong place. These are the rock legends of their sport and it is about to get very noisy.
They are all here. The big-hitting specialists, the lightning-quick bowlers, the exceptionally athletic fielders, and the supremely talented all-rounders, who have the uncanny and somewhat unfair ability to change the course of a game single-handed.
The Indian Premier League does not do small talk. It bawls and yells at you and commands your attention. It will deliver plot twists and turns that will cause your jaw to drop and leave you emotionally drained at its conclusion. It will offer no apology.
It has become an annual staple. Cricket’s global schedule is highly congested with bilateral international series and domestic competition. But for seven weeks a year the IPL draws the world’s best players and a worldwide audience of millions like moths to an enormous, raucous, irresistible flame.
Money talks. If you want the best, you have to pay the going rate – and then some. Players are auctioned off to the highest bidder like rare masterpieces. Critics claim their only loyalty is to their bank balances, rather than to a particular team, and that the lure of such lucrative short-term contracts has given rise to a new breed of cricket mercenaries.
In part they are correct. The proliferation of Twenty20 leagues around the world means more cricketers from more countries are living out of a suitcase more of the time. Physical and mental fatigue is the price these performers pay, for whom a dip in form, or worse still, a significant injury is a constant concern.
But for all the T20 competitions, none can compete with the IPL. It was not first to market with the concept – but it has taken this form of the game to a whole new level. In the world of sports entertainment the Indian Premier League has few peers and its marketers have brazenly added as many whistles and bells as they could find.
The Bollywood stars, the fireworks, and the cheerleaders are all part of the show. But the real celebrities are inside the boundary ropes. In a country obsessed with cricket, names like Tendulkar, Dhoni and Sehwag are regarded as living legends from Chandigarh to Chennai.
And that’s only the locals. The IPL has aggressively pursued international stars and integrated them with the best Indian talent. Gayle, de Villiers, Muralitharan, Kallis Ponting and Malinga are just a few of the eye-catching imports of whom much is expected.
To add to the excitement, there’s a new team in town. Sunrisers Hyderabad has replaced the defunct Deccan Chargers in the nine-franchise league. Captained by Sri Lankan veteran Kumar Sangakkara, and coached by former Australian batsman Tom Moody, the Sunrisers will look to make an immediate impact having retained several of the Chargers’ better performers.
Sadly Sangakkara will be forced to miss at least one game during IPL season 6. He, along with all Sri Lankan players and match officials, have been barred from playing in Chennai due to security concerns arising from political protests in the region. Proof, if proof were needed, that sport and politics don’t mix
The ban, imposed for the safety of the players, could upset the balance of power on the field. While the Chennai franchise doesn’t tend to recruit Sri Lankans, other teams rely on them. It is tough to argue the Super Kings won’t have some kind of extra home advantage in the wake of this controversial ruling.
T20 cricket is, by nature, unpredictable. Attempting to pick winners and losers is therefore a perilous pastime. Kolkata, led by Gautum Gambhir, will attempt to defend its 2012 title while Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore’s ‘Gayle-storm’ will all be pushing hard on the accelerator.