5 annoying things about the IPL

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda.

Every guy has yearned to be a cricketer at some point of time in his life. Tendulkar lofting Shane Warne over his head in Sharjah, India in the final of 2003 World Cup, Ganguly taking off his shirt after the Natwest trophy final, Yuvraj Singh smashing Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over, and the greatest of them all, winning the 2011 World Cup – these are instances vividly ingrained in my memory. The impact of cricket is such that you can befriend any stranger by simply asking, ‘’Bhai, score kya hua?’’ (What’s the score?) or ‘’Sachin ne kitne banaye?’’ (How many did Sachin score?)

Needless to say, cricket (and Counter Strike) are responsible for the majority of break ups. And come to think of it – which girl could rock a guy’s life as much as an India-Pakistan match? Only Emma Watson in a swimsuit would come close. Yes, we are a country that obsessed with cricket!

But things have changed since the advent of the Rajpal Yadav format of cricket: T-20 and the IPL.

IPL is as much about cricket as Chetan Bhagat’s books are about literature. If cricket is a Kishore Kumar song, then IPL is a brutal rap by Honey Singh. If cricket is peace of my mind, then IPL would be my girlfriend.

Back when I was a kid, my dad’s friend used to ask me if I could name all the players of a team and I’d tell him all the names with an I-know-it-all smirk on my face. That has been my favourite cricket anecdote and IPL is way above such trivial memories. The thrill, passion, emotion and excitement related with the IPL somehow seem to be a show-off and not natural.

Here are some of the things that are wrong with the IPL -

1) Commentators: No one gives a damn as to what they have to say, since all that they utter is pure nonsense. People who used to be arch critics of T-20 can now be seen praising IPL. In the match between MI and DD, this is what Kapil Dev had to say: ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ???? (If Mumbai want to win this match, they will have to find some way to beat Delhi) Paaji, how do you come up with such logical statements? Hats off!

2) Drama - SRK being banned from the stadium, Harbhajan slapping Sreesanth, and team owners – who don’t know an iota about cricket – giving tips to their players – the drama is too much. Cricket is a gentleman’s game, so why not let it be like that?

3) Intensity - IPL is just like a class unit test; no one wants to put the extra effort. Even Virat Kohli doesn’t abuse with the same fervour in IPL matches.

4) Ads and Strategic time outs - So, you need a break even in between 20 overs? It is a great marketing strategy to earn a few crores through ads, but it sucks big time. And a ‘Star Plus nayi soch award’ in IPL? Are you kidding me?

5) Cheerleaders - Who are we kidding? They are the best thing about IPL, apart from watching players like Sachin Tendulkar and Ponting bat together. I wonder how some of the younger players manage to focus on cricket with pretty cheerleaders around.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda.