IPL 2011 Roundup Part 1: The Atmosphere

As the fourth edition of the IPL comes to its (long overdue) end for the season, it makes sense to look back at the event as a whole and determine what worked, what didn’t and what can be done to improve the viewer experience for IPL5. Over the next 4 days, I will be looking back at the IPL4 experience in 4 different posts, each one dealing with a different aspect. Today will be about the atmosphere, tomorrow about the event coverage and once the matches are completed, I will look at the matches and the performances. So let’s begin with a look back at the tournament atmosphere.

1. Timing:

Admittedly, the schedule for the tournament was fixed a year ago and they knew that it would start immediately following the World Cup. But the thing no one could have predicted was that India would actually be triumphant at the World Cup. The Indian victory came after a 6 week long tourney in which they appeared in both the first and the last matches. So by the time the IPL rolled around, the fans had already been subjected to six continuous weeks of cricket. The IPL’s cause was not helped by the fact that the World Cup threw up close matches and also an India-Pakistan semifinal which seemed to have an interminably long coverage on news channels. Right off the bat, the IPL had an uphill climb.

2. Crowds:

The crowds for the IPL have been great. I had the fortune of watching the DC vs MI match in Hyderabad and the crowds were just crazy. Of course, we have barely been shown crowd shots in the coverage (more on this tomorrow). The highest crowds were predictably for the Mumbai matches since everyone wants to see Sachin play before he retires. The crowds I sat with and have seen on TV have been amazing (apart from the Mumbai vs Bangalore match played in Chennai). As far as setting an atmosphere for the matches, the crowds have been great. They have stuck with their teams through thick and thin and this proves that cricket, after everything has been taken away, is still a game which engages its audience like no other

3. Cheerleaders

When the discussion turns to setting the atmosphere, the IPL has its own resident cheerleaders there to pump the crowd up. This season, we saw innovation in the cheerleading department as well. The Pune Warriors cheerleaders with their traditional dresses and dances were a welcome sight among the “normal” cheerleaders that the other teams had. One good thing about the cheerleaders this time was the fact that they were pretty much kept in the background, there were no special interviews with them, no in depth look at what it takes to be one, and thankfully – no reality show to select cheerleaders for teams. On a whole, the cheerleaders added a lot to the matches, in the game I went to watch, the crowd were dancing along with them. They definitely played their part here.

4. The Carnival of cricket

This is supposed to be the Carnival as per the commentators. If that is the case, then the cricketers are the main attraction. The on field action, while good, left a lot to be determined. The addition of 2 new franchisees meant that more Indian domestic players got exposure on an international level. While this was beneficial for them, it also went a long way towards showing how much our domestic cricket has to catch up with international levels. Domestic bowlers were regularly thrashed around, and while a few discoveries were made, by and large it was disappointing to the domestic players. A few players though did come forward and light up the carnival that will be elaborated on in the final installment of this series. The addition of new teams also led to a lot of one sided matches this year, with very few matches actually going into the last over undecided.

As is evident, the IPL this time lacked the overall atmosphere which previous IPLs brought with them and the reasons why have been elaborated on above. This IPL though passed in one important aspect. It showed that an IPL can be conducted without Lalit Modi. By having a successful tournament (with one match left) the BCCI showed that no one man is above the brand which IPL has built up. Hopefully next year with no cricket overdose thanks to the World Cup, the IPL can regain its own unique atmosphere again.

Tomorrow, I will look at the IPL coverage. What worked, what didn’t, and what improvements are possible.