Preview to the Pepsi IPL 2015: "India ka tyohaar"

Huge crowd of KKR fans cheering team the during felicitation ceremony of the IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders on June 3, 2014 in Kolkata

Tell your grandfather that there is a cricket tournament happening in the months of April & May in India with international players and he will say that you are off your mind. Now tell him that batsman these days play shots like Dilscoop or the Helicopter shot and that there are cheerleaders on the ground. He is bound to tell you that you are not talking about the game of cricket. For people of your grandfather’s generation, cricket was a game in which batsmen were taught to play in the ‘V’ and playing shots in the air was considered a sin. Spectators of that era wore formal jackets and hats to the ground and there was no question of cheer leaders.

How the game of cricket has changed over the years

Little did the Britishers know that in the land were once they had built hill stations as summer capitals to beat the heat; their own descendants would one day come to play cricket in the middle of the summer season. Today, we have cricketers from across the globe playing cricket in the peak of summer in India in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Apart from bringing players from different countries to play for the same team, IPL has beyond doubts fuelled the invention of many adventurous shots which are no longer viewed with raised eyebrows. As they say “Change is the only thing constant in this universe” and the game of cricket is no exception.

Come April 8th, 2015 and defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will play against the Mumbai Indians in the opening match of this year’s IPL at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Of course since it is “India ka tyohaar” (festival of India) there will be a grand opening ceremony with the performances of Bollywood stars a day prior to the match.

Pepsi IPL 2015: As exciting as ever

Unfinished cricket bats stand against a wall as employees use hand planes to shape cricket bats at a Stanford Cricket Industries factory in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India

On the cricketing front, this season seems as exciting as any of the previous ones. Indian fans would love to see Virendar Sehwag - the only Indian to have a test triple hundred back amongst runs. Even Sehwag’s biggest critic will acknowledge the fact that an inform Sehwag is a treat to watch. Similarly, the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan & Gautam Gambhir might want to prove a point or two to the national selectors.

Apart from these experienced cricketers, there is a brigade of promising youngsters who would like to make it big in this edition of the IPL. After MS Dhoni’s retirement from test cricket, the wicket keeper’s slot is up for grabs and players like Sanju Samson, Dinesh Karthik among others will hope to use this year’s IPL to make a strong case for them. It is also a good opportunity for few other youngsters like Unmukt Chand, Axar Patel etc. to shine in the presence of international stars.

Among the foreign players, the most watched out will be Kevin Pietersen (i.e. in case The Sunrisers Hyderabad makes it to the knock out stages as Pieterson is currently doing county duty with Surrey). The English selectors would have a close eye on him and they would be more interested in his off-field actions as there never was a doubt on his talent. World Cup heroes – AB de Villiers, Brendon McCullum & Mitchel Starc might just continue from where they left down under couple of weeks back.

A festival for the Indian fans

As far as the Indian fans are concerned, it is the perfect medicine to get over the disappointment of the semi-final loss to Australia. Had it not been for the IPL, the Indian news channel would have gone on and on to scrutinize the semi-final loss. So, like any other Indian festival; this one seems to be bringing joys for the people and it truly is India ka tyohaar.