The great irony, of course, is that it was the elections that forced the IPL’s physical exile from India and the elections may now be further eclipsing the IPL’s fortunes in the public’s mind as well. Of course, people are not unidimensional and the same people can very well watch cricket and simultaneously follow the travails of Messrs Advani and Manmohan Singh. It is undeniable though, that the IPL’s primary catchment area is the urban middle classes, which may not be great voters, but are certainly avid watchers of political trends. The IPL’s viewership base is the same as that of news channels — which is why they have bought so heavily into the event — and the elections are always a hefty counterweight while flipping channels, especially if it is raining.

Cricket, though has funny knack of making all analyses redundant and though Bruno, the dog, is the greatest story to come out of the IPL so far, who knows, we could all still be in for a surprise.

The writer is the author of ‘India on Television’ and a Fellow at La Trobe University, Melbourne