Will it be Delhi or Mumbai, Chennai or Kolkata (or a complete lack of interest after the first two weeks)? If you’ve been living on another planet and don’t know what’s going on in the IPL, here’s what it’s all about...

The big guns or the small ones?

So now that it is knocking at the door, hammering it down really, what can one finally look forward to from the Indian Premier League? I don't know about you but I am waiting for some cricket to take place. In recent times you might have thought that the IPL was a new movie, a music video, a new page 3 toy or a non-banking finance company. You can put what you want on the cover of the book, it only sells if the story is good and that is how it is going to be with the IPL where cricket is currently the step child grudgingly allowed into the family photograph. The cheerleaders might be good, the ads might be brilliant but it is those boring run-outs and catches, those mundane inhabitants of the real world, that determine who wins and who loses.

I know this sounds boring but the first thing I would like to see at the IPL is where the boundary rope is. If it is pulled in too much and hitting a six becomes an on-demand activity, cricket will cease to be a contest. It will be like one of those movie stars hitting twenty goons at one time. The World T20 championship told us that the bowlers had a role to play and it is the opportunity the bowlers are afforded that will determine how good the cricket is. Taking wickets was a very important part of the mix. It was wonderful to know.

... contd.