ARE WE READY FOR IPL6?

For the past 5 years the whole country gets hung at the front of the television set after 8pm fighting for the remote with their brother, sister, wife, mother, father or even girlfriend at the month april and may because the India premier league is on.The film fraternity has understood the timing of IPL and keeps no big releases during the IPL season. The weekends are filled with action packed clashes. Schools are on holiday. Parents are driven by their children to take the for few of the matches. The working people try to take half day so that they could go for few of the matches. With IPL starting from next week are we ready?

IPL1,3 and 5 were super hit because the Indian cricket fans got to see the action onfield after long overseas tour but 2weeks back India had just burned Australia into ashes and started giving Clarke and Mickey Arthur nightmare about the “Ashes”. The whole of country is coming out of celebrations, when the last run was scored and the feroz shah kotla screen flashed India 4-0 Australia of the revenge of the humiliation down under. If it was a Bangladesh test series or a one-day tournament with Zimbawe the stadiums would have been half filled and the trp rating would have crashed but it is the IPL. To my belief the IPL would start high become low in the mid stages and then catch up at the end because of the few new additions to the IPL. Two new venues in the form of raipur and ranchi and the fantasy leagues. ranchi, raipur and the existing smaller venues of Indore, cuttack and dharmashalla would help to catch the eyes of smaller cities were the interanational cricket is rare. The matches in chennai may go on with half filled stadium but not in these smaller venues. With limited matches in these places everyone would try to catch their favorite national and international stars in action. Another advantage IPL always shows is that, when a team underperforms a particular season they comeback stronger the next season. Delhi finishing last in 2011 came back stronger in 2012 giving the Delhites huge attraction and the attraction and made them follow IPL. One of the main reasons IPL5 was hit because it gave fans the unpredictability alive until the final ball was bowled and the final shot was hit. Most of the matches went for last over finishes or the last ball finishes helped the spirit of compititiveness to be alive. Sachin, Dravid and

IPL is designed with a format of home and away system. If a team looses at home they are given the option to take revenge in the other team’s homeground. Growing stronger or consistant depends on individual players contribution not on the team in the group stages. Gayle’s 733 runs in 2012 made RCB qualify for the knock out stage last year. Shaun Marsh’s 616 in just 7 games made KXIP qualify in 2008. Lasith Malinga‘s 21 helped Mumbai qualify. Sunil Narine’s consistency helped KKR qualify. After the group stage, the knockout stage requires more than individual player’s performance. It depends on the entire team, in the finals of 2012 Narine and Gambhir failed but Bisla, Shakib-Ul-hassan and Kallis rose to the occasion and delivered. Similarly, rajanthan’s epic performance at the finals of 2008 when the terrific pair of smith and swapnil asnodkar failing inspite of their terrific performances in the group stages. The sixth season is about to begin and don’t give favorite tags to any of them becuse they might upset when the party ends and the hangover begins!