IPL is back!!!

The IPL monster is back and so is the time to forget the Indian team blues off late. 8 overseas defeats and first round exits in CB series and Asia cup sound distant things. Though one thing was common with those debacles. Non-existent bowling attacks.  The bowling attack that reads 5 spinners, 3 faster ones, 2 traditional ones. All trying to spin the ball. Poor stuff. But that talk now gets pushed out for at least 55 days, we can get back to those talks in June when we gear up for another neverland trip for Test team – SL.

But for now, its IPL time. And this time with 9 teams and 76 games, 2 less than last year or more than last year, I don’t care. But a lot of things have changed since last IPL.

       Shane Warne has retired for good from cricket on the ground.
       Kochi has been terminated, the players have been scattered to different franchisees.
       MS Dhoni is no longer the midas,  this days whatever he touches, he loses. Last time this year or vice-versa he was in captaincy form of his life.  World cup win, 2 IPL titles and a bald head.  This time lets not talk about it.
       Sachin Tendulkar is no longer MI captain and he has scored 100 tons. He has refused to retire thus sending his critics to a very busy time ripping him apart.
       Symonds is gone.  No Yuvraj Singh this IPL for health reasons. God willing, he should be back soon to the field. Most urgent thing India needs this time for its cricket.
       Ganguly has been back as a captain and this time for PWI, all those drama from Sahara not withstanding.
       Dravid has retired from international cricket. And Laxman has found no takers.
       Of course the Chennai Super Kinks has grown thicker in its bunch of useless players who are just eating up Indian places and resulting in the debacle after debacle. Latest one – Jadeja. He is a 2 million dollar player and his skills are not even worth 2 cents.  What an irony!!

And of course all of that razzmatazz from the filmy pepool and the ill brigade of after parties are existent in this season too.

So we are being told this year that this is going to be the most definitive IPL season, which would decide how worth IPL is, or lets say how good the IPL has remained to be.  IPL is the punching bag that takes the hit for every Indian defeat be it in any format or for any useless debate on country vs club in any country. So it has to be seen if the TRP rating continues to be high as first 3 seasons or it takes a continuity from the 4th one last year.

IPL is going to be one of the most important tournaments for a few players in Indian mainland especially for folks like Harbhajan Singh who has to come back to the Indian team.  A good outing in this IPL would make it strong claim for the # 1 off spinner in the country.   R Ashvin isn’t the # 1, that’s proved. He comes  good against selective countries and is almost a liability on the field given his athletic skills and running.   Besides the tournament would also matter a lot for folks like Pragyan Ojha,  Rohit Sharma, Rahul Sharma and it needs to be seen if any new fast (literary meaning) bowlers emerge. And yes count Umesh Yadav too in that list please.

I sincerely wish and pray that folks like

        R Ashvin
       M Vijay
       R Jadeja
       S Badrinath
       Anniruddha Srikanth
       And of course Boss DK.

Fail miserably so that they don’t force a way back to the Indian team on the name of youth or transition or injury replacements.

IPL would do a good to the Indian cricket if it unearths some serious talent especially in fast bowling department, where we seriously need a fast bowler who can bowl pace and take wickets.  We don’t need another Vinay Kumar or Praveen Kumar or Munaf Patel or Ifran Pathan in terms of pace or Sreesanth in terms of attitude. We need somebody who is skillfull as Zaheer Khan, a 10 % capacity at this stage would suffice.

By the time I write this, the Vijay guy has been dismissed and that’s a good news for start.  And Boss DK has just fluffed something.   Harbhajan Singh hasn’t got any wickets in his 3 overs till now.

Let the tamasha begin, or that has already begun.

My support : Mumbai Indians for Sachin Tendulkar and Sahara Warriors sentimentally for Sourav Ganguly, though I dislike anything related to PUNE.