Its IPL!!!

I live in Hyderabad... Study in Chennai.. And I am a native of Rajasthan.. And one can translate it, Deccan Chargers is my home team, Chennai Super Kings is whom I should be supporting, and Rajasthan Royals is what I am... but ironically enough, inspite of so many choices I choose a team different from all these... I don't like Shah Rukh Khan jumping up and down the balcony with Arjun Rampal dancing to his tunes.. And in the absence of Sachin, neither has Mumbai Indians given me a solid reason to support them. Delhi Daredevils has a dream bowling attack but without Sehwag and Gambhir, its batting looks thin. On paper, Bangalore Royal challegers look the most boring and impotent.. Quite ironical isn't it that a man like Vijay Mallya should end up with probably the most boring team one can imagine.. This leaves one team remaining and thats the Punjab Kings.. With Preity Zinta on their side, Punjab need not give any other reason to be their supporter.. She claps with every six and cries when each wicket falls down. Her contribution to the game as she says is her presence at the stadia.

Hmmm... its been a week into the IPL.. And we have already witnessed a spectacle of a life time. It started off in tremendous fashion, with Bredon Mccullum pummeling the RCs.. As one sided as it was, it just laid the foundation for the week to come. When the two kings faced off, it was just that Super in the name that edged Chennai to beat Punjab. But the most interesting matches have come off late. The humdinger in Kolkata on a pitch which one can argue should have been a test wicket. The chutzpah of Abhishekh Nayar who almost saw Mumbai cage the Super Kings, and the last over flourish by Shane Warne, which annihilated otherwise a memorable day for Andrew Symonds.

As an Indian though, and the T20 champions, its a little worrying that they are the players from overseas which have truly performed. All centuries, the most brilliant bowling figures, and exceptional fielding everything, by just the four members in each team.. The Shane dual in Rajasthan Royals, The Austrailian duals in DC and Chennai, Mccullum And David hussey for Kolkata, James Hopes and Brett Lee for Punjab, Mcgrath and Maharoof for the Daredevils. The only truly Indian side is the Mumbai Indians. Robin Utthapa, Harbhajan Singh and Abhishekh Nayar have all done India proud. Abhishekh Nayar and Ravindran Jadeja have shown tremendous potential to compete with the best and are sooner rather than later to be seen in the Indian colours. One other bowler M Gony, impresses me a lot.. Well built, tall bowler has used his body to excellent use and is an addition to an already growing Indian Pace attack..

And there is much more than cricket... Cheerleaders, just like in American football.. Man these girls and in some cases guys too (:|) bring lots of colour to the match... You see them dance at every four or six hit.. At every wicket taken.. ITs just fantastic to watch... Stars performing on the grounds, I love the Akshay Kumar stunts, the Sivamani drums... Its just much more.. The advertisements.. of not any other products.. but the teams themselves... the promo song by Daler Mehndi.. I can recollect only one song.. "Its ROCKING, yaara kabhi ishq to karo. "

IPL has already thrown a number of surprises.. The table looks opposite to what it was predicted before the tournament.. DC started as favourites but are lying down at the bottom of the table with 3 losses in as many matches. On the other hand, RRs have done exceeding well to win 2 out of the 3.. Thanks to Shane Warne of course.. Most of the players will be returning to their national duties and it is then that IPL will truly be tested to live up to the expectations.. Meanwhile, today, is Punjab v Mumbai match. I have a reason to support each but I am expecting a cracker of a match on a pitch that produced close to 500 runs in the previous outing. IPL has just added so much colour in the Indian community. And why not.. If the European nations have this in Football, the T20 format has given us a chance to showcase it in cricket. And oh boy, we have succeeded..