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| Edited By: Gautam Sheth |Source: |Updated: Sep 18, 2017, 11:04 PM IST
After riding high and enjoying every ball in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League, fans are unable to enjoy the dot balls in F50
The biggest news of the ongoing Kitply Cup tri-series between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was the fact that Yusuf Pathan and Manpreet Gony made it to the Indian team. But after this, no one knew or actually cared to know what the schedule of the series was.
Indian cricket spectators, or more aptly fans, were not bothered in the least when the series opener was a Bangladesh-Pakistan match. But on June 10, 2008, when India was playing its traditional rival, Pakistan, there was hardly any buzz. After 45 days of short but crisp cricketainment of the Indian Premier League, no one had the patience to wait nine hours to know who the victor was.
Fans' loyalty to the various franchisees may come under the scanner, but loyalty to cricket's new whacko, bite-sized version is a known fact. Every dot ball was spoken about with a hint of sarcasm. Every stroke played by the batsman was compared to his batting style in IPL. There were more than a hundred instances when people referred to various players with reference to their IPL franchisees.
For instance, when Shoaib Malik had a shy at the stumps, it hit Virender Sehwag on his arms. And the fans cried out in anger, "How dare Malik hit his captain?" [For the record, Sehwag leads Delhi Daredevils for which Malik plays].
In another instance, when Sehwag was caught behind in Sohail Tanvir's over by Kamran Akmal, it was said that the Rajasthan pair outclassed Daredevils captain. [For the clueless wonders who may have missed the IPL hoopla, Tanvir and Akmal were a part of the victorious Rajasthan Royals team].
When the same Rajasthan pair was unable to make any impact on the game, the noise was that there was no Shane Warne leading Tanvir and Akmal. In fact, from India, Yusuf Pathan who also was a Shane Warne cadet in IPL could not do much in his debut and the argument was further validated.
Even the Sehwag-Gambhir blitzkrieg in the first 20 overs didn't impress many. A 76-balls-89 runs innings by Sehwag was called slow. It was there for all to see - players and fans have still to recover from the IPL hangover.
Sehwag played the late cut, he glided the ball to third man even while facing fast bowlers on numerous occasions. Eventually he perished to the same shot.
During the IPL month, every day, a friend or colleague would fire a message asking for regular updates. No one during the tri-series even knew when India was playing.
No one's to blame for this tragedy. The IPL for all concerned was just too irresistible. One cannot blame the IPL, but surely one has to salute the genius of Lalit Modi who has made this form of game a habitual practice. Each and every Indian was drawn to the league - the promotion and hoopla encompassed everyone. There was no escape.
The timing of the tri-series was unfortunately bad. Therefore, till the inaugural T20 Champions League in September 2008, fans have no choice but to hang on to the nine-and-a half-hours of cricket every single time.
