IPL bowls over the Indians

[Zakhmi]

THE smile on the face of Lalit Modi, the genius behind the new Indian Premier League, said it all. Sitting beside Bollywood actor Preity Zinta, owner of the $76 million Kings XI Punjab, in the Mohali stadium on the weekend, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's mastermind of the new competition could not have looked happier. And his delight, it has to be said, was not just because of his proximity to Zinta. For, all the signs after the first weekend of the new competition is that it is set to be the rip-roaring success that Modi said it would be and that, if the reaction of Indian fans is anything to go by, this spectacular form of cricket is here to stay. "I'm very, very happy. Things are going very well," the modest Modi told those around him. But for all the glitz and glamour and razzamatazz of each IPL match during the weekend it seems there is overwhelming support, and while there is not yet any solid indication about television audiences, it is believed that the usually under-watched Max channel that is screening the series has won millions of new viewers. It is hardly surprising, given what was on offer and will continue to be on offer until the final. The opening match in Bangalore was preceded by a spectacle choreographed by the flamboyant liquor and airline baron Vijay Mallya that would have given many Olympic opening ceremonies a run for their money. But Warnie, even in retirement, remains a huge crowd puller in India. They love him. That, indeed, on the basis of the first weekend is another aspect of this competition: old animosities have been forgotten as erstwhile foes from India and around the world join together in disparate teams to compete for the richest prizes in cricket. The IPL is undoubtedly off to a good start. The challenge for Modi and his colleagues is to sustain the incredible momentum generated in the first weekend. But if there's more cricket like that seen from McCullum and Hussey, there's no doubt that the competition is set fair for the sort of success reflected on Lalit Modi's face in Mohali. more....

[Predator_05]

Indians love T20

http://blogs.cricinfo.com/tourdiaries/archives/2008/04/electrifying_ed.php A crumbling pitch, a packed house, a power cut, sapping heat, too few sixes – and, eventually, a five-wicket win for the home side. The IPL’s first match at Eden Gardens had its share of drama, but eventually the spectators – 87,000, by most accounts – went home happy. The men behind the Knight Riders – led by the omnipresent Shah Rukh Khan - have some glitches to sort out for the remaining games, but the overall reaction and overwhelming support would have heartened them. This match was different to anything I have seen at Eden Gardens – and perhaps different to anything this grand old stadium has seen. It was, typically, a feast of sound and colour, but something seemed different in the mix of the spectators: enthusiastic teenage girls, children not more than three feet tall, strapping men and countless women. I was part of a group of 15 friends. This was more of a family occasion than usual, and partisan down to every man, woman and child. If there’s one word to sum up the atmosphere, it was electrifying (though that seems like a bad pun given what was to come): the singing, the chanting, the Mexican Waves, the typical Eden humour. The Bollywood music didn't stop, particularly songs that feature King Khan; though for some bizarre reason they threw in Rang De Basanti as well. And every so often, Korbo Lorbo Jitbo Re, the Knight Riders’s theme song, came on with the crowd chanting “All the King’s Men, we rule!” The added twist was the presence of the cheerleaders, the IPL’s gift to Indian cricket spectators. They were enough to make even staid Bengali bhadralok (gentlemen) shed inhibitions. One of the many men who fell over each other to take pictures of the cheerleaders exclaimed, “Dada, ekta chhobi tule din na, bou-ke dekhabo!” (Please take a photograph of me with the girls, I will show my wife.”) One wonders what his wife would make of it. Above all this, though, the major attraction was Shah Rukh, the team owner, mascot and guardian angel. He was there in his box with his retinue - Arjun Rampal and Karan Johar, who were in Bangalore as well for the first game, and Kolkata’s very own Usha Uthup, the singer, and actor Rituparna Sengupta. And a couple of very special guests – Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka and her husband Robert. Shah Rukh’s box provided the hottest competition for the action on the field, and was the focus of most attention. After every ball, those in the nearby blocks would stand on the edge of their seats to watch him clap, dance, cheer; I heard, not surprisingly, one man was injured trying to get a better view. And then there was the cricket. Enough has been said and written, I guess, about the pitch and though the low scores were a disappointment, it wasn’t really reflected in the crowd’s reaction. The Knight Riders’ fours and sixes – there were fewer sixes in the whole match than had been scored by Brendon McCullum alone on Friday - were greeted with a huge roar, the fall of every Kolkata wicket with a stunned silence (and vice versa for the Chargers). The biggest cheers were reserved for Sourav Ganguly, whose gritty 14 helped put the team’s chase back on track. But he had tough competition, especially among the young girls in the stands, from the lanky and streaked-haired Ishant Sharma. Andrew Symonds was greeted with some jeers, but perhaps not as rough a time as might have been expected in the aftermath of the showdown Down Under earlier this year. It wasn’t a perfect day out, though: food items such as chips, sandwiches, and soft drinks were priced at exorbitant rates; water, sold in packets, soon ran out. There were reports of the toilets running out of water: not much different, then, from the typical Eden Gardens experience. There were some tussles between spectators over seats. Sadly, the police and security were not very vigilant - instead of focusing on crowd control they were busy taking videos of the gyrating cheerleaders. The biggest glitch, of course, was the sudden power-cut, one of the floodlights going off with the match poised at knife's edge, the home team needing 22 runs off 20 balls. The crowd was initially calm when play was halted, but as it continued people began to panic and there was a mini-stampede in the aisle next to where we were sitting (and at several other places in the stadium). People stumbled and fell over, and many simply left. But it was never really scary, and soon enough the crowd began chanting the theme song – led, apparently, by Shah Rukh – and a calm descended. After half an hour the lights came back, as did the Knights; David Hussey won the match with a big six and Kolkata went berserk. That, ultimately, is what the IPL is all about, I guess. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Would I return for more? Yes, I plan to watch a couple more matches. If only they can do something about the pitch and the power.

[Feed]

TV viewers lap up IPL Twenty20 show TV viewership figures for the first two days of the IPL matches show that these matches are becoming very popular among the viewers, giving daily soaps a run for their money. Poonam Saxena examines... More... It was a blockbuster opening. TV viewership figures for the first two days of the IPL show are in, and the scoreboard is already looking impressive. Executives of Set Max (the channel which is telecasting the matches), are overjoyed: their phones haven’t stopped ringing ever since market research agency TAM released its six-city viewership data early Monday morning. Of the three matches, the opening game of the tournament — Kolkata versus Bangalore, held on Friday — got the highest ratings (8.21). Says Sneha Rajani, executive vice-president and business head, Set Max, “That’s even better than what any India match in a World Cup normally gets.” This was also the match that proved to be the most popular with elite viewers in Mumbai and Delhi, according to TAM figures. And not surprisingly, the highest viewership of the match came from Bangalore, the city where it was played. Put it down to the feverish hype and sky-high anticipation levels. Though viewership dipped in the second match (Chennai versus Punjab, rating of 4.97), it picked up again in the third match (Rajasthan versus Delhi, rating of 5.58). To get an understanding of what these figures really mean, remember that ratings of the top serials hover in the vicinity of 5 or 4. Will these figures stay steady over the next few weeks or will we see a drop? “Let’s not get carried away,” says Sneha Rajani. “There might be a dip on weekdays. But they’ll bounce back on weekends. And as the competition between the teams gets tougher, I think the figures will go up again.” That’s what the industry calls the typical ‘U’ shape — up, down and up again. Most industry watchers feel that the combination of cricket and Bollywood in a fast and furious format like T20 is a lethal combination. It’s likely that the IPL matches will eat into the viewership of the entertainment channels as well. According to Sameer Nair, CEO, NDTV Imagine, if IPL does well on weekdays, then the entertainment channels will be affected. “Globally, though, sports events get big viewership only on weekends,” he points out. But if this blockbuster opening lives up to its promise in the days to come, then the IPL is set for a very long innings.

[King]

There you go, cricket public is enjoying this tourney. It's a matter of time the purists will also warm up to this. It's a shame people that appreciate test cricket cannot appreciate this version. Test cricket will not be hurt but ODIs will be hurt quite a bit with Twenty20s.

[Tapioca]

I increasingly find detesting these articles which depict the "average Indian cricket fan" as a primitive, dumb creature, whose ultimate purpose in life is to have "fun" and who can be bent to the will of anyone who can provide him with that fun, women and song.