It’s that time of the year in the Indian Subcontinent when searing heat takes the center stage in the cities and across the rusty hinterland. Here in the US, we look forward to rainy and slightly chilled spring turning into summer. Back home in the olden days, we used to have vacations for school after a long academic year. Down the memory lane, I can our generation of friends riding cycles, swimming, playing cards, eating Mangoes, and visiting/staying with relatives. Later as we turned into parents, our kids had Holidays. We had to keep them busy with hobbies, camps, and books. It was time for Ice-cream and other chilled summer beverages of your liking. One more dimension to Indian summer was added in 2008. IPL made it into the ritual of the typical landscape of the summer lifestyle.
Every night 7 30 pm is the time to switch on, see the best of international cricketers in a mix with the new Indian talent hitting "Maximums", Fours, getting wickets, catching, and getting run-outs. There are parties aligned in drawing rooms, restaurants apart from the big parties at the stadiums. There are distractions like cheerleaders, gossip, celebrities and owners, showbiz, advertisements, brandings. But for a true cricket fan, these are irrelevant.
The young Indian team won the 2007 T20 WC without seniors and the Indian cricket business setup found a gold mine. But for a true fan, it was some different diet than s/he was excited about. Initially, when it all began in 2008, there was MonkeyGate looming after the landmark Indian tour down under. IPL came in at the right time. IPL diffused tensions and made cricket a gentleman's game again. But that doesn't mean the aggression died down on the field. In 2008, the magic of Late Shane Warne’s captainship led unfancied Royals to the inaugural title. Next year bottom ranker of 2008, Deccan chargers won the title thanks to the Brilliance of Adam Gilchrist. Those were days of Aussie dominance. Lalit Modi kind of took on the Indian Government by hosting the event in South Africa when there were security concerns raised by the home ministry due to the 09 General elections. Finally captain cool prevailed in 2010 in a tense final against Sachin’s Mumbai Indians. 2011 Dhoni repeated the winning streak. Gambhir led KKR to Jeetbo in 2012. Mumbai Indians started their odd year-winning trend under a new captain Rohit in 2013. Finally, Sachin won the IPL title as a player completing an ideal career. 2014 IPL was partly held in UAE and we saw a new style of cricket (Maxwell-Miller) by Punjab doused by KKR in the final. Mumbai won in style in 2015 while David warner made his mark in 2016 leading a new team Sunrisers Hyderabad to the title. CSK and Royal were banned in 2015 due to a fixing scandal that rocked IPL and created the biggest doubts. Rohit's Mumbai beat Pune under Dhoni in the final by 1 run in 17. Chennai retained the title after revamp in 2018. Mumbai again reigned against Chennai by 1 run in 19. The pandemic hit in 2020. In 2020 Mumbai was undoubtedly the winner when IPL was played in empty stadiums in Dubai. Many Mumbai players made the mark. In 2021 IPL was interrupted due to a severe delta wave in India. IPL was cursed as Nero was playing the fiddle. Chennai won in 2021. In 2022 we now see new teams coming in and games have begun.
There are many naysayers who feel IPL is a circus, fixed, corrupt, overrated, and an overkill of cricket. And add to that wham-bam non-classical nature of t20 cricket over the longer formats. But for someone like me who has grown up watching cricket and being a diehard fan (self-proclaimed), any ball getting a wicket, or any stroke getting run is cherished. Add to that the drama of asking rates, match situations, brilliant performances, wrong decisions, and on-the-field tensions. They may say that only foolish watch IPL where players, officials, broadcasters, advertisers, all those who matter make money while we spend it as well as time and effort. But watching IPL has been fun for the last 14 years or so. It's more fun than watching unending serials, talk shows, and stereotype movies. Aren't these cliché as well?
It's been one experience watching in the comforts of living rooms but also another to watch it in a stadium. It's a big pain, crowd, heat, queues, traffic, etc, but still, the atmosphere compensates for all this. Uncertainty of results adds the intrigue. Any bottom finisher team can upset board leaders on any given day.
There have been issues, controversies, scams, owners' problems, accusations, even murders. But then watching Gayle hitting sixes, AB playing those incredible shots, Virat's skills, Malinga's yorkers, Dhoni's finishing, Sunil Narain's big hitting, Gayle's records, Bumrah bowling, Pandya’s hitting, Jadeja’s fielding young players showing off their talent, incredible catches, incredible fielding all makes these issues irrelevant for someone who is focused on cricket. As far as the T20 format is concerned it's the only way cricket can be globalized. Cricket is followed by at least 25% of the world population so it means something and cannot be ignored.
Staring with McCullum's innings, Warne's leadership, Sachins century innings in losing cause, Unusual fielding position for Pollard, Gilchrist final innings, Dhoni's sixes in last over, Gayle double century, Pollards hitting, hattricks, Maxwell miller hitting, KKR's turnaround, Mumbai’s two 1 run wins in finals, Dhoni’s comeback, Pollard hitting, Warner’s innings, there are many memories. Add to that the personal memory of get-togethers, parties, public viewing events, those seen at exotic places while on vacation around important memorable matches. It's been an enjoyable experience
Please note I am not on BCCI payrolls or of any stakeholder but a plain simple cricket fan. But it's been fun all the while. It's now a part of Indian Summer just like Alphonso Mango: Delicious. And it all seems a fairy tale-like Midsummer Nights’ Dream
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