IPL

I have to write about IPL - cannot help it.
All the drama before a ball was bowled - that sapped some of my interest, instead of whetting it. To be honest, I did not think Modi san would carry it off - he did! Wow! As a pure management exercise, his was sublime. If CEOs can do what he did, the recession should be short work.
Heh!

Now that it is on, I watch it when I can. The few matches that have been close - especially the three in the last 5 days, were riveting stuff. Now that I have experienced it, I also know that last year was different. Last year had energy, it had raw passion. Yes, it had more than its share of silliness, yet the people in the stands made a palpable difference. The screen used to throb. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

This year, we have had even more silliness, even more blatant commercial crassness, the commentary has been pathetic and the crowds have been dull. I don't mind the silliness or the crassness or the commentary because I can do mute, or simply flick to Natgeo and come back exactly to rejoin the play. But the energy? It is missing. The crowds are thin, there is bonhomie maybe, but no partisanship, no heart-thumping electricity. Its boring.

I might as well be watching Essex bat against Notts - don't really give a rat's ass. Clearly, IPL can only work in India. That is a learning that Lalit Modi must have got by now. Knowing him, we can be sure that the next year it will be in India, come het or wet, rain or snow; and we also know that the brazen strategy break will be gone as well. Thank the Lord for small mercies!!