The concept of city based franchisees never appealed to me. It was not only a way to propel the regional feelings but also a way to look the other teams in demeaning light. Cricket teams should always be analyzed on the strength of its composition and collective capabilities than the city based jingoism and nude fights. Some of the IPL games in season 1 and 2 offered me a chance to watch the duals between legends something which wont be possible to see anymore in international cricket.
something which you wont see in the international cricket. We for lifetime have watched Sachin running to Kumble to take his sweater to give it to the umpire or Sehwag thrashing the spinners. But besides nets we haven’t had much chance to see how this batters scale up with the bowlers of their own team. Not just for India but for other teams too. For example how do SL’s best of batsmen in Sanga, Jaya and M Jaya scale up against Murali and Malinga. Ditto for Aussies.
That’s the biggest USP of the IPL. Forget Bollywood, cheerleaders, Lalit Modi, FIP and cities. If I support Delhi because I love Viru and Sehwag blasting off bowlers and if its most balanced team amongst 8, then it should not be a problem given the fact I don’t hail from Delhi and there is no team from my state of origin. But then cricket for me never has been confined to the regions in India. I have liked Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar with same intensity as I have liked Anil Kumble, Dravid from south or Ganguly from East or Sehwag, Gambhir from north and Azharuddin from Hyderabad. For me liking cricket is always based on the skills and the joy he brings to me watching. His batting, his bowling. If that means I support many teams, then who bothers.
I used to see games of MI with equal intensity as the Bombay blogger just cos I got to see Sachin Tendulkar bat. KKR cos I got to see Ganguly bat and pitching in for RCB cos I get to see captain Kumble in action, which wont happen once IPL is over. Bad habits of 19 years of watching Kumble every Test India plays and I see and 13 years of watching Ganguly open the batting every ODI India played or # 5 in Tests just don’t go away in a season.
And if I have to watch this players in action, I rise above the limited city vision, limited regional vision and enjoy the delight I get while watching this greats. Dub me anti – Mumbai or anti-South or pro – North or lack of whatever attribute that it takes to have a “good blogger and popular blogger network part”, I care two hoots on it. Personal attacks, I care two hoots on it. I am here for my love of the game and my version of take on the matters cricketing. That’s what matters. Labels don’t.
