IPL? yes please.

You are a Rahul Dravid fan. You enjoy excessively monotonous sports kits and you think everyone looks good in white only. The concept of playing under lights repulses you and an excessive amount of six hitting and unorthodoxed batting perplexes the inner elitist within you. You are a classy person and watching axe yielding circus clowns on a cricket pitch is akin to a revolution in your eyes. It must be quashed.

Do you want a few more fielders for a defensive shot?

But that’s you; not me. Don’t get me wrong oh allegedly superior person. I enjoy test matches and one day cricket too. In fact, if I was fat or extremely rich, or both, I would spend all my time watching test matches and even chess matches. But I’m not and the prospect of watching a scintillating contest between bat and ball within the space of a few hours leaves me grinning like a Cheshire cat.

seriously; if nothing else, watching Sreesanth get slapped is more than enough.

I’ve been criticised for not being a pure cricket fan because battles of attrition where the batsman is slyly defending a clever bowler. But, I’m not living off my pension yet so come on! I’m not a great fan of waiting 132 balls to see a batsman score a hundred (cough Tendulkar vs. Bangladesh cough), and I even assume an alias when I do criticise such boring innings.

The point is, I’m a fan of the Indian paisa  premier league. I enjoy the superhuman fielding efforts, the scoop shots, the switch hits and the slog sweeps. I enjoy the life IPL breathes into an ancient game. Let me highlight a point for you;

It took West Indies around 75 overs to cross 200 runs. It took Royal Challengers of Bangalore 18.3 overs.

Undoubtedly, test match cricket is the truest form of the great game. Really challenging teams across 5 whole days. It’s not just a physical contest but also a test of mental strength and strategies.

Yet, IPL and T20 cricket does the same. Spinners have to bowl as if it is an over. 5 dot balls and the 6th sent sailing over the boundary; that is a contest. Batsmen have to score quick runs against bowlers who bowl yorkers as if it’s pay per view; that is a contest. Fielders who will fly over the boundary ropes to catch and through the ball to another fielder in order to take a wicket; that is desperation. That is competition. Oh and I’m a big fan of Lalit Modi and his excellent choice of suits.

Just watch this image for a few hours… that’s test cricket.

Cricket is great and we should still persist with test match cricket; but IPL and T20 cricket; that’s the 100m sprint to your 42 km marathon.

Having said all that though; I prefer the game without cheerleaders who are about as attractive as seductive zombies.

India vs. England or Venue vs. Venue?

Receiving their visas for England was about the only thing India successfully accomplished on their tour of England. The score line of 4-0 in the Test matches and 3 – 0 in the ODIs, in accordance with injuries and a blatant lack of preparation, which showed when team India could not acclimatise to the rainy conditions and seamer friendly tracks.

Similarly England have proven that the only success they’ve had in showing up to the matches and subsequently losing their wickets, as India have so far obliterated England in both matches, even… yes you read right, in the fielding department.

Steven Finn sums up England's woes...

So the question then is; which team is actually better? One team has recently won the T20 world cup; the other team has won the World cup. Does this mean that the venue matters more than the players themselves? Can England never prevail on slower, flatter pitches? Can India never prevail on seaming, wet pitches?

where has this English juggernaut image gone?

For both teams, being number one has become the most important aspect of their game. Unlike the Australians and West Indians before, India and England don’t seem to be able to be the world’s best teams outside their own backyards. At home, they are fearless, dominant and decisive, away from home; they cross the pitch like lost, mindless sheep.

So must teams play in neutral venues for a true world champion to be found?

Or must India and England simply learn to love the game, not the result?

Technology will give us stats, the players will give us opinions but ultimately… we have no answer.

Until then however Spartans like Virat Kohli will continue to disdainfully dispatch bouncers with the pull shot that screams; ‘This Is India!‘

who will have the last laugh??