10 reasons why we love the IPL

Danny Morrison (R), seen here with MS Dhoni, is one of the voices of the IPL

Hellloooooooooooooooo IPL!

With the distraction of the World Cup out of the way, it’s time to get down to business!

Here are 10 reasons why we love the IPL:

10. Games last three hours – With the overload of cricket, our attention spans are getting shorter. T20 fits the bill perfectly.

9. Strategic timeouts – These games can be frantic! We know you hate interruptions, but these allow you to get your breath back, make a cup of tea and go to the loo without missing any of the action.

8. Pravin Tambe – Some dreams do come true.

7. Young blood, old warhorses – The IPL is a real chance for youngsters to make their mark (read Sanju Samson, Manish Pandey, R Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja). Also, it can sometimes be the last chance for us to catch some old favourites - Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid. And who can ever forget Dada’s celebratory run after getting Pietersen out?

6. IPL Fantasy League – We have been hooked on IPL fantasy for about 6 years now. Much like fantasy football, you pick your team for each game. Runs, wickets, catches and run outs all score points. The captain or trump in your team scores double. Only certain combinations are allowed and there are caps on the number of overseas players. Substitutions are limited. Fantasy cricket keeps every game interesting since you score points irrespective of the outcome of the game. We even have a Whatsapp group solely dedicated to sledging/jinxing each other’s fantasy teams. If you haven’t played fantasy cricket, give it a try here.

5. No emotional investment – Unlike international games, you can support even sworn rivals like David Warner and Shane Watson in the first innings while cheering for MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli in the second. Also, you get to see Andrew Symonds play alongside Harbhajan Singh which is certainly amusing.

4. Insane catches – A lot of people talk about the standards at the IPL being low. You won’t think so when you see some of the catching.

3. Crazy batting– The batting in the tournament is incredible as well and we’re not only talking about Chris Gayle smashing unknown bowlers out of the park. Watch AB de Villiers demolish Dale Steyn (twice) and let us know whether you think that was poor cricket.

2. There’s no business like show business – The IPL is where Bollywood meets cricket. Cheerleaders, film stars, businessmen, drug busts, fights, fireworks, parties. No other league has more drama.

1. Danny Morrison and Co. – Need we say anything more? Let the party begin!

This article has been contributed by a member of the SK Featured Bloggers Club. It was originally published on the ‘One Tip, One Hand’ blog here.