RC Editor

The hype has been created. The aura is everywhere to see and feel. IPL is back in India!

RC Editor

The hype has been created. The aura is everywhere to see and feel. IPL is back in India!

On the cricketing side, the auctions, the controversies and then the preparations are about to culminate in a frenzy tussle of supremacy over a gruelling schedule. 45 days and 60 games later, we will all come to know who will be the Champion Club of India, but that’s a long way to go. It’s just the beginning today, and doesn’t it look bright today!

On the non-cricketing side, the fracas on the media rights (and lefts), the issue of copyrights (and copylefted), the controversies with the state associations, the addition of two more franchises, the security threats and moreover the abundance of cricket have created reels of write-ups, prime-time debates on television. But let’s step aside and reserve our thoughts on them for another platform.

The IPL is here!

And that’s what the biggest thing on Indian soil is right now. The DY Patil stadium will host the inaugural ceremony and the match between Kolkata Knightriders and Deccan Chargers – the two most unlikely teams to feature in a match in Mumbai – away from the home / base stations of both the teams. The question doing the rounds is will there be a filled-up-to-the-brim stadium for the inaugural stadium? The latest news is that tickets are still available in abundance at the stadium this morning.

However, even if the stadium is half-filled today, IPL is bigger this time. Number of venues has gone up with the addition of Nagpur, Dharamshala, Cuttack and Ahmedabad, and so has the avenues to watch the match.

Now you can watch it at the stadium, if you are lucky enough to grab a ticket that is. If not, then there is the quintessential television. For the more adventurous ones, they can hit the theatre screens and watch the matches (probably with no commercial interventions) with their bowl of popcorns. There is also the Youtube, for the digital champions, where you can watch deferred live matches.

But, let’s forget the hype and focus on the cricket – the quality of it or the lack of it – and let’s debate furiously on that. Let’s watch the match, support our teams with emotional fervour, but let’s not inflict emotional atyachar on others. It’s still remains a gentleman’s game, isn’t it?

Let’s hope Team Royal Challengers rock again this time. Let’s hope we go one further this time.

Let the show begin!