Saturday, May 03, 2008

Cricket, India and IPL

Well Cricket, i should say is one of the best things that happened to India because of the British rule. The game has continued to enjoy popularity among the masses as well as the classes and it still continues to grow. What is in this game that makes us follow it so avidly ? Why is watching Sachin Tendulkar play so captivating and by far the best source of entertainment ? Why do we feel low for rest of the day when India loses and what makes us talk about it for weeks when India wins the worldcup or even a one day series in Australia ? It is not an exaggeration to say that cricket is more than religion for most us and I am one among its followers.

I got to watch the IPL match ( T20 :crickets new born baby and truly a marketing genius) between Bangalores Royal Challengers and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers today in Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. Watching T20 format of the game is more eye candy than watching any other format of the game, and a fully packed stadium today in Blr is the proof that this is gonna be the future of the game. People (including me and my friend) reached the premises two hours before to ensure that we get a better view of the fielders and field. There is no lack of patriotism towards their favourite teams with many sporting t-shirts of their favourite teams and getting their faces painted with emblems of their favourites. To entertain the crowd and cheer up the players, there were cheer leaders who are raking a moolah outta this new championship..Every IPL match is invariably preceded by a music/dance performance by some of the top notch Indian stars and singers. The tinsel town members and bollywood baazigars are not at all left out with few of them owning the teams, few endorsing and few being brand ambassadors....Can there be a better marketing than this ?

With millions of dollars being spent and with stars and pomp everywhere, IPL has not just got the fuel that is needed, but also the spark to ignite it...

No comments: