The Surfer

In fact, for sixty plus years since independence, India hasn't been able to cultivate a sports brand of its own. We still crave for the Wimbledon, English Premier League or even the more fancy Formula One circuit, a recent rage in the country. Never, however, have we bothered about our own international sports brand, which the IPL is finally turning out to be.

An amalgam of good old curiosity, the drawing power of cricket’s poster boys dr­essed up in coloured pyjamas and, above all, the ability of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to sell a bed of nails to a porcupine has led to favourable ev­idence coming smoking out from the outsourced cricket circus.

Those who argue that allowing teams to simply import players from other countries will deny opportunities to young aspiring Indian cricketers can again take heart from the English example, where the likes of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard came through youth programmes at various clubs to achieve fame. Besides, there are any number of tournaments that young Indian cricketers can use as a springboard to success, including the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy and the Under-19 World Cup, to name just a few.
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The match might be played in Cape Town, not Chennai, but it remains the Indian Premier League. And as was made clear at the tournament’s inception, one of its main goals is to provide a platform for Indian players who might otherwise never make it to the big leagues. The IPL experience is invaluable for them, allowing them a chance to showcase their talent before the national selectors that might have been years in coming, if at all.

Almost everyone was in the dark in 2008. No one was quite sure whether IPL was a romp in cricketing clothes, a frolic in a park, a gift from the gods or a significant cricket tournament. Now a galaxy of stars were signed and all of them played with their hearts.

There are three reasons it won't happen. First, it is a diminutive version of the game. Five-a-side soccer is cool and sevens rugby is a joy to watch - but is it the real thing ... [another] reason the IPL - in its current format - will never be more than very expensive wallpaper in the global sports village is the absurd glass ceiling placed on the playing quality of the teams

Brendon couldn’t get started at the start of the tournament, while Sourav did... Later, Brendon started getting his game together, but Sourav didn’t get any momentum... I’m sure he left feeling disappointed, both with his own and the franchise’s performance.

Gee, things are different today. We were told emphatically that wives and partners were not allowed to join the touring party until the last two weeks of the four-month tour. We needed to prepare properly for this important tour and boy, did we. Boonie started the tour off beautifully by breaking Doug Walters' and Rod Marsh's record by downing 52 cans from Sydney to London. Perfect start!

"On his way out here, he'd picked up a stewardess, lined up to see her when he got back to England," Rooney said. "By the time we got to the city, he'd taken a phone call from another girl, and I was driving him to a shop in South Yarra to meet another girl. I think you could say he was very popular with women."

"If you hit the clothes line it was 25 runs automatic," Hughes said. "If you hit it on the full, it was 50 ... the side fence here was two runs on the bounce or roll, on the full was four, the back fence was four, on the full on the back fence was six, the chook pen was six."