The shortest format of cricket is all about innovation. What sets Twenty20 apart from other forms of the game is its ability to accommodate change.
With every passing year, T20 introduces viewers to new facets of the game. From switch-hits, to slower bouncers, to audacious attempts in the field, to out-of-the-box captaincy, the game is always evolving in this format. The idea is to draw more eyeballs and provide thorough entertainment to people watching.
The flag-bearer of T20 cricket is, of course, the Indian Premier League (IPL). The tournament is currently in the middle of its tenth season and its popularity has grown from strength-to-strength over the years. One doesn't only get to watch the best players in the world battle it out in the IPL, but also gets to experience a party-like atmosphere during matches.
Not just the cricket, attractions like cheerleaders, spidercams and LED on stumps have also been a huge hit with fans of the IPL.
However, in its quest for innovation, the IPL organisers took things a little too far during Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) clash with Rising Pune Supergiant at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, a couple of nights ago.
As the on-field umpires were walking out at the beginning of the match, viewers were greeted with a rather bizarre sight. While we are used to seeing a cameraman holding the match ball and walking out with the umpires - only to hand it to them within a few seconds - we would've never expected to see the umpires being presented with an apple instead of the ball.
Yes, that's exactly what happened. And this is where it gets even more weird. The person presenting the apple wasn't a cameraman, it was in fact a female model.
When the two umpires walked on to the field and expected the match ball to be handed over to them, they were greeted by a beautiful model who was standing with a basket full of apples. After the officials turned down her seductive attempts at handing over an apple, she finally picked up the ball from the basket and handed it over to them. The fact that the umpires were participants in this awful script only made matters worse.
The look on Sunil Narine's face, as he was walking out to open the innings for KKR, was priceless!
Here's a video that shows what happened:
Considering the match in question was played in Kolkata, wonder what Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly has to say about this novel idea.
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