Top 5 IPLs

While in my previous post, I discussed about the other IPL (Indian Parliamentary League). And it struck me that these may not be the only ones, and I came up with my favourite list.

Number 5 : It has to be the original the BCCI Indian Premier League. For one its original. People wait more for zoo zoos than the match. Strategy breaks are wasted on a fully clothed Mandira Bedi. Members of this league just do what they are expected to do. Give hugs, run like headless chicken (remember appam C when he got Dhoni out?) or just call 50 grand USD as motivation and loose the next one. Can you get more boring/interesting (the glass is half full or empty)?

Number 4 : Indian perverse league. This is an interesting league. Even the non-Indians know about it. Members of this all pervasive tribe can be found right from the beaches of Varkala in south to the banks of Ganga (dare ask me to use Ganges anyone) in Rishikesh. Any tourist (foreigner or Indian) who has shown a certain square inch of skin more than the permissible limit would have experienced them. Oh btw did I say permissible limit? It varies as per each members standards.

Number 3 : Indian Paisa League. This one is a million dollar league literally and figuratively. To know the members of this league you either need to be able to answer this million dollar question - Who has the black money? or have an account in Swiss bank or be building an 8000 cr house on the Altamount road in Mumbai. You can choose your own path to know them.

Number 2: Indian PITA league. This is a relatively new breed of members. They include the MNS, Sriram Sene, SIMI, shucks, I don't even remember the name of the group in Kashmir who asked woman to stay in houses in burkas.

And the top honour goes to ....

Indian parliamentary league ... You name it and you have it in this. Black money. Sting operation. Technology (the use of it in CD or failure of it on the blogosphere, sorry Advani ji). Flip flops. Third front. Fourth front. Back to front ;). Betting. Slog overs. Surprises (who thought about a big win for Congress?). Numbers (on screen as well as under the table). Its just a fascinating amalgamation of all the ingredients of a pot boiler. Can't get the eyes off. Even the results can change. It has an intriguing league before the thrilling semis and finals (assuming 2 days before counting and two days after). And yes, it doesn't have strategy breaks!!


There were other close competitors, The Indian Punter League, Indian Paradox League, Indian Pessimissm League .. and if there are more, do let me know you can think of !!

Finally IPL is over

Year 2008, BCCI's IPL was born. Year 2009, BCCI's Indian Premier League was held in South Africa. Was this the only difference? I doubt. All through the 2009 session, I wondered what was it that I could just not keep the same interest going like last year? Was it just me or something more to it? A news report in ET at least told me that it wasn't just me. The TVR rating (a mix of viewership and time spent on watching a program) had actually gone down. Though more people watched it, the time spent on it has gone down. So what does it tell us? Too much of cricket? Absence of Indian crowd? Strategy break? This could be as big a dark horse in this story as much was the Rahul factor in Indian Parliamentary league! As usual, more questions than answers. For me the criteria seem to be three -

One : Viewer fatigue. Its no more a novel idea. Too much of anything is bad even if its just 20-20
Two : Absence of "Indian" stars living upto their stardom. While some did perform, but none of them seemed to have captured the imagination.
Three : Strategy break. Definitely I feel. It gave the chance to viewer to move away from the screen and have better things to do.

Thus while the skirts got shorter for the cheer leaders it didn't highten the interest for sure. And guess what, I feel relieved that the league is over. I am sure lot many share the same feeling. Not to forget that I fear how it will affect our world cup chances and what so much of cricket will do to my interest in it.

P.S : Can someone please get rid of this bollywood shadow on the teams, any team with remotest of filmy connection lost (Rajasthan royal, Sharukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Katrina Kaif)