5 specialities of season 5, IPL 2012

With just 2 days to go for what commercials call as a “FAMILY OUTING” – the IPL season 5, the nation is getting ready by buying tickets, jerseys and other merchandise products. The TRP ratings were considerably poor last season. Have Indians become too selective or are they tired of tight scheduled cricket? Until and unless something is special about this season, it won’t draw a larger group of audiences. If looked from a neutral perspective, what would make season 5 special? Listed below are what I think will make this season attractive enough to draw audiences.

1. GANGULY’S CAPTAINCY

He is the architect of India’s young brigade. Ganguly was instrumental in Yuvraj, Harbhajan and Dhoni’s careers. He is just second to Sachin as the most “favorite cricketer” to most Indians. Such a legend is he among Indians. He had an embarrassing IPL career until now. Picked as an icon player by Kolkata, he was forced to hand over the captaincy to McCullum due to poor performances in Season 1. He even went unsold in the auction held for Season 4; many franchises doubted his talents. However, Pune bought him as replacement player for Nehra. This season, Ganguly is leading Pune in the absence of Yuvraj Singh where he plays a dual role of mentor and skipper. He was known for his aggression throughout his international career. He always believed in giving it back to the opponent – he always encouraged aggression in both batting and fielding. So we can expect a good fight from his boys through out the season. Taking Pune to the title, will surely add feathers to his cap and he will be aiming at doing so.

Ganguly plays a dual role as Skipper and Mentor for Pune

2. MUMBAI – CHENNAI RIVALRY

If it is Chelsea – Man Utd rivalry for the BPL, it is Mumbai – Chennai that draw most audiences when they face each other. One has the likes of Sachin, Rohit and Harbhajan, while other has equally popular Dhoni, Raina and Ashwin. The star-studded and stylish Mumbai teams are the chokers of IPL – they choke at knock out phases of the league. However, they fought hard enough to shed their tag by winning the Champions League title. On the other hand, Chennai are the Masters. They play cricket fair and good. Chennai have won “Kingfisher Fair Play Award” thrice and have reached finals thrice in the previous four seasons . They are competing his season to defend their title.

Hi5 Season

3.PUNE TO PLAY WITH 5 FOREIGN PLAYERS

Just before this year’s auction, Pune asked IPL Committee to add Yuvraj’s price to their action money cap. The committee refused it and it created a rift between BCCI and the Sahara Group. Sahara group stated that IPL is favoring Mumbai and added that the IPL committee allowed Mumbai to play with 5 foreign players in the Champions League as their premium players like Sachin, Rohit were suffering from injuries but not them and hence they withdrew their sponsorship for the National Cricket Team and their team Pune from playing the IPL 2012. After subsequent talks, BCCI accepted Sahara’s demands. One of the demands is the 4-foreign player exemption for Pune, provided the other franchises accepted the proposal. This will be the first season in which a team will be playing with 5 foreign players in an IPL match.

4. LEVI’s, CLARKE’s IPL DEBUT

Richard Levi, the South African opener is the new sensation of T20 cricket. He broke Gayle’s record for the fastest T20I century. He was bought by Mumbai as a replacement for Andrew Symonds. His aggression at the opening alongside Sachin will be key to Mumbai’s success throughout the tournament. Clarke’s debut came as a bolt out from the blue for all his fans. He refused to play IPL from season 1 saying that it would be hard to play against his national team mates and it would create a cold war among them. He was bought by Pune this season. He is no in the Australian T20 side. It was Clarke who took Ganguly’s catch in the controversial Sydney test match. Sharing the same dressing room will give a fair amount of chance to have a friendship beyond their controversies.

5. MASTERS OF SWITCH HIT IN THE SAME TEAM.

It was Kevin Pietersen who actually invented the shot – Switch hit and he had great success with it too. The other player who plays it well is Australia’s David Warner. He was found switch hitting Ashwin for sixes in the Champions League. Fans will be excited to see both these players out in the middle, playing together. Adding to this, which bowler won’t fear to bowl at a line up starring most destructive players – Sehwag, Warner, Pietersen? Fans will surely expect a run-fest when these players are on the field.