The most awaited and most celebrated annual cricketing event in India's history is to commence in less than 24 hours. Bigger, better and tougher, that's how I perceive the upcoming tournament to be.

The title of this blog may seem ordinary to you, but, it is a phrase that has a very special place in my life. This is the very same phrase, which attracted a 13 year old lad to follow the quintessential game of bat-ball, not as a street player, but, as a worshipper of the game. This was the title of a special write-up on the Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992 and the fanfare, as well as the amount of talks, centered around that tournament .  captivated me and for the first time in my life, I started watching cricket on television.

The hype those days was about the introduction of coloured clothings, white balls, black sight-screens, day-night matches and TV replays. All this was unheard of, prior to that tournament and just as the case would have been with any innovative approach, the battle-lines were drawn between the purists and the progressive minds.

Cricket survived and it got only better with all those additions. The level of skills required  by the game in the modern age, is certainly degrees higher than what it was in the 'good old days'.

The introduction of T-20s and IPL once again brought to fore, the same battle-groups, debates about the degeneration of cricket and the commercialization of the game. Some people said that Rahul Dravid Vs Sachin Tendulkar Vs Sourav Ganguly was leading to the disintegration of national team and some said that money power was diluting the game like never before.

All said and done, IPL has also survived the initial jolts, laughed away at the doubting Thomases' comments and has only become better and bigger.

Since, the last tournament was held in South Africa, this edition of IPL is being touted as the home-coming of the teams. Unlike the first season, this time, the awareness is higher, interest is greater and so is the player participation. ICC has not granted a window to IPL in the official calendar, but, it did leave April out for our premier league of cricket to utilize. That in itself, proves that IPL is here to stay and to entertain.

It's not just the game that has progressed, even I have progressed as an IPL and Royal Challengers' follower. From no access to IPL's first season, I got to see a few games in the second and this time around, I am set to watch all the RCB matches and also to keep an eye on the performances of the rivals.

I am not involved with the official strategy making or any kind of debates about the game and various permutations and combinations, yet, I have been spending days and nights, feverishly reading, calculating and anticipating the possible happenings in the upcoming tournament.

My association with Club RC has given an entirely new dimension to the role of a fan, a spectator. I no longer feel like a layman, who would watch the game on telly and would say "Well played" or "Damn it", but, I feel like a loyal team member , who is raring to get the action started and has put everything else on hold for now.

There is excitement in the air and I can't just wait to see live action! It is akin to the early days, when one used to try and sleep early so that he will wake up early and Diwali day would be there.

Mighty 14 is one more brilliant initiative by Club Royal Challengers and I am hoping to join the band of fanatic fans, who will cheer RCB and make our players perform a notch higher than the rivals (Consider this as a vote appeal, as you have got to vote and ensure that I go to the stadium and write a wonderful blog about my experience:). Well, cheering up the team brings to my mind, the presence of pretty Ramya in our ranks.

I admit that I haven't seen her films as I don't understand Kannada and at the same time, I admit that I am smitten enough to watch her Kannada movies now, even if that would mean only staring at her beauty.

Well, without digressing from the topic of my blog, I must say that the presence of a popular Kannada actress like Ramya is only going to boost the morale of the fans and those who follow Bollywood already had Katrina in the squad.

Hey, there is so much in the mind and I would better sum up by exhorting all of you to come and join the bandwagon now.

"Let the frenzy begin!!"

Love RC and love you all..

Wizardprince