The changes that IPL brings along

‘It’s that time of the year again’

It’s that time of the year again when most cricket writers start their articles with ‘it’s that time of the year again’. The Indian Premier League will take us on a detour for a couple of months. For some, the detour seems to be exciting, adventurous and fun, while for a few, it turns out to be a bumpy ride.

A couple of years ago, the number of Ravindra Jadeja fans were lesser than the number of tigers in India. But now, thanks to the IPL, which proved to be a catalyst in Jaddu’s life, he would be featuring in more than 90% of the Fantasy League teams this year. Chris Gayle is probably a couple of centuries away from forcing the Bangalore folks to start calling their city Ban’Gayle’ore. The Mumbaikars believe Lasith Malinga is a local, all thanks to the Indian Premier League.

There are plenty of reasons for your girlfriend to hate the IPL. Kevin Pietersen not playing this year and Brett Lee or Virat Kohli not playing for the city she’s from, can be a couple of them. Of course, not spending time with her during the evenings might also turn out to be a very minor reason. The ladies at your house, your mother and wife, will curse their man for not allowing them to watch TV soaps. In some cases, the guys crib about the women in the house not letting them watch the IPL.

Nobody bothers about ‘India at 9’ or ‘Face the nation’ that were otherwise popular shows by a few top news channels. The productivity decreases by more than a half among people who have the curse of working in the evening shift. You see more people honking on the roads between 7 PM and 8 PM. Among the others whose businesses suffer are the radio stations, restaurants without a giant screen to showcase the game, coffee shops and movie makers.

The IPL promo ad featuring Farah Khan is extremely annoying. But, in the next month or so, without the slightest of knowledge, you will be humming the lyrics of that ad. It’s been proven over the past, with annoying songs like ‘De Ghumake’(World Cup), ‘Vissay Vissay’(World T20 in SL) and ‘O la la O la la’(Champions League). You feel hypnotized by the IPL and hallucinate, hearing the trumpet sound while you’re trying to sleep.

School kids don’t get up on time. They feel sleepy in classes. Teachers and a few classmates start looking like cheerleaders for college students. They expect strategy breaks after every class. They wonder why exams cannot be shortened like the T20. The shop vendors add an IPL related prefix to most of their dishes/items. The milkman asks you about the six Dhoni hit in the previous game. From original to local, you spot team jerseys everywhere. But a couple of things don’t change – Ravi Shastri’s clichés and the fate of Indian fast bowlers.