IPL2

It is difficult to give this heady mix of Sports, Entertainment, Glamour, Politics and Drama a miss.

IPL2 is already the showcase of a daring Indian psyche. I guess I can safely say such shifting of location of a local league to a foreign country has not happened in any other sport across the world. This may have been a forced decision on BCCI. It is well understood that the television is the prime driver and the geographic location may be an immaterial factor. But the departure from staying true to established league norms of ‘Home’ and ‘Away’ matches, ‘Home Grounds’, ‘Loyal Home Fans’ etc. was audacious and the conviction that the interest can be sustained at a foreign shore is a laudable.

While all this and more (or less, in case of the cheer leaders’ garb) has begun to generate the widespread interest, what has really captured the attention for me is the performance of the oldies.

Warne, Hayden, Kumble, Murali, Sachin & Dravid are the key performers in the matches so far. In the very first over from Warne, we could see the ball jumping and turning as if he has been bowling all year. Kumble was accurate as ever. Sachin & Dravid are staking claims for a place in the Indian T20 team. Hayden was in his usual intimidating mood, brutally shaking off the indifferent first match innings. Saurav failed but will take a lot of comfort from the success of his peers. We have not seen Gilchrist & Sanath getting into action yet but they surely will have their days.

T20 is a blink-and-you-miss cricket form. Teams do not have time to recover. There are no grand plans but a sleight here and a trick there can do the do. In such form of cricket age does not matter. If you can put the bat to the ball, do so to avoid the 11 guys on the field, in which ever manner you can and sustain that for ten or fifteen minutes, you might have made an important contribution. Similarly, a batsman frustrating miserly over or a wily wicket taking ball or two, can change the match. What T20 has done is to take the game to one of its simplest forms – the Mayhem of Street Cricket.

Street Cricket all over the world is enjoyed by the young and the old alike. Youngsters will taunt the oldies over a sloppy fielding or a bad running between wickets, the Uncles win get back by purely playing on the youthful impatience. Of course, the physical fitness and conditioning of the young is unmatchable, it is easier for a wily old horse to sustain his run over a 20 over match much better than any other longer version of the game. When it comes to the international stage, we are talking about world class athletes, who know a thing or two about fitness irrespective of their age.

So far in IPL2, these guys have been a joy and a thrill to watch. It is not that these oldies are there to just put on a show and be the crowd pullers that they are. They are genuine entertainers in their own right, masters of their trade and have nothing to prove to anyone.

But with their edgy competitiveness, mighty experience and supreme talent, all ready to be pulled out for a condensed, intense form of cricket, the oldies are probably just the right guys to have on your side.