Charmed by Sree

You know what they say about men and women? Men are predictable, and women are predictable for being unpredictable. Well, after the first two days of matches I'm beginning to think that the game of cricket, and Twenty20 particularly, seriously takes after women.

Think about it: on day one, who would have put their money on last year's losers beating last year's winners? And I certainly didn't expect to see the most stellar performances come from the senior players on the team. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble proved that old is gold, and that experience and keeping one's cool is the most valuable skill in this sport.

On day two those trends visibly continued. The Deccan Chargers (last year's absolute losers) came up with an impressive win against the Kolkata. And again, seniors, aided by a few brilliant flashes from the young 'uns like RP Singh and Rohit Sharma, were the heroes of the day. Inspiring performances from Daniel Vettori, Virender Sehwag and Herschelle Gibbs were only somewhat deflated by disappointing efforts from Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, but still it appeared to me that one of the key factors to winning this game is having not just the passion to win but the wherewithal to know how to do it. And that comes only with experience.

Of course, the tables could very well turn, and over the next few days the brash, hungry youngsters may take charge. In the meantime I was very charmed to hear Sreesanth talking to Mandira Bedi about his expectations of the IPL. Charmed not just because he called his t-shirt a dress, but because he said he was hoping to be something like a sponge and absorb things from all the world-class players that he was getting an opportunity to share a dressing room with.

After his much-publicised tiff with Harbhajan Singh last year, which is exactly the kind of youthful, senseless behaviour (both the crying and the slapping) that doesn't endear you to anyone, it was heartening to see Sreesanth ready to turn over a new leaf and soak up a little wisdom. But if the weather continues as it has been, he's going to have to soak up a whole lot more.