IPL off to thrilling start
Dileep Premachandran's spent the last week criss-crossing India to watch IPL matches
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Dileep Premachandran's spent the last week criss-crossing India to watch IPL matches. Here's his take on the tournament so far in the Guardian.
There's been some fine cricket, too. Sure, Shane Warne was guilty of hyperbole and revisionism when he called Pathan's 37-ball century the best he'd ever seen, but it was still a thrilling display of power and timing. In the same match, Ambati Rayudu, once touted as India's next big thing, and Sourabh Tiwary took on Warne with the fearlessness that comes easily to the young. A day later, Manoj Tiwary, the wasted years in Delhi behind him, delighted his home crowd in Kolkata with a superb innings against Dale Steyn and Anil Kumble.
All well worth watching, if not quite in the same league as the Kallis masterclass on Tuesday night. Not too many sides chase down 204, and even fewer do it with seven balls to spare. Manish Pandey (38 from 26 balls) and Robin Uthappa (51 from 21) exploded grenades around him, but it was Kallis that finally took out the Kings XI, easing to 45 from 38 balls before smashing 44 from the next 17 that he faced.
With the IPL, it seems jingoism has found a new vehicle in India and the rest of the cricket world is told to dance to its tune or take a hike, feels Gulu Ezekiel. Read his piece in the New Indian Express.
Make no mistake — Modi and the IPL’s ultimate target is not six or eight weeks in the calendar. The recent deals struck by the Rajasthan Royals franchise with teams from England, South Africa and the West Indies is just the first step. The franchise owners will never be satisfied with being in the spotlight for just six to eight weeks a year. Their target, hand-in-glove with Modi, is to expand their operations worldwide and year-round. The Board of Control for Cricket in India too is complicit in this scheme of things.
World cricket domination is in Modi’s sights and it is the Indian cricket public who will decide whether he gets what he desires or has his ambitious plans thwarted.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo