The Indian Premier League played for the 10th consecutive year has grown in interest and scope progressively. This tournament has been based on the lines of professional sports played in America such as their Basketball and Baseball Tournaments.
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The Board of Control for Cricket in India conducts this tournament with franchises from big cities in India, paying huge amounts of money to the BCCI. The franchises also engage the services of local under 22 players for a minimum wage of US $20,000/- per annum and the services of players both local and foreign for a minimum wage of US $50,000/- per annum.
The high profile players earn very much more than this due to their reputation and performances in International cricket. Thus this tournament attracts most of the top international cricketers.
The tournament has now grown in stature and has all the frills that are associated with professional sports in America such as cheerleaders, DJ music, sirens, tooters and replicas of team clothing worn by supporters.
The grounds are adorned with advertisements of sponsors both in the form of electronic and advertising panels giving the sponsors their monies worth. The home teams are well supported by their citizens and most matches draw capacity crowds of all ages. As a result, the cheering and the other sounds generated at the venues create an electrifying atmosphere.
The very first Under 19 World Cup
In 1988, I had the privilege of managing the Sri Lankan Under 19 Team to the above tournament..
There is comprehensive media coverage for this tournament prior to and during matches, with renowned past cricketers both from India and other countries expressing their views.
Pitch reports, strengths and weaknesses of teams and playing strategies are discussed from the studio as well as from the stadia. The studio presenters at times, bring popular Indian film stars to add glamour to the coverage.
Interviews with players and coaches while the game is in progress create additional interests among the Television audience. Both captains and the player of each match are interviewed at the end of the game at the presentation ceremony also stimulating the interests of the spectators.
Over the past decade, the T20 game has evolved with the playing intensity increasing. Batsmen are seen to play strokes that were never thought of before, such as the scoops, the reverse sweeps, paddles and the slog sweeps to upset the bowlers and create confusion for the captains to set a field.
The games we used to play
I was boarded at S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia from the tender age of 8 in 1954 up to the time I left College in 1966..
While these strokes are spectacular when it brings runs, when batsmen get out attempting to play them they look stupid. The bowlers too have become innovative, varying the pace of the deliveries resulting in the batsmen being unable to premeditate shots without taking any risks.
Pace bowlers uses over the wrist deliveries frequently and also use the slow ball bouncer to good effect. A delivery that has come to the fore in this year’s tournament is the knuckle ball delivery bowled by the fast bowlers which reaches the batsmen much slower than the other deliveries, thereby upsetting the rhythm of the batsmen. Over the years, the wrist spinners have been successful in this tournament mainly due to the batsmen being unable to pick the googly and the slider.
Fielding too has improved by leaps and bounds with players diving and sliding and saving many runs. Some of the catches that have been taken have been unbelievably spectacular. Fielders have perfected the art of catching high hits before going over the boundary, throwing the ball back on to the field of play and coming back from beyond the boundary rope to complete the catch.
However, there has been a tendency for fielders to drop the easy catches due to the tension that they undergo while fielding. The umpiring has been good despite the pressure imposed on umpires by the fielding sides and the Television reviews have revealed very few mistakes.
In the current tournament a new strategy has been developed in batting, where two powerful strikers of the ball are used to open the Innings for the batting team in order to score around 10 runs per over during the first six overs, when only two players are permitted on the boundary. David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan for Hyderabad Sunrisers, Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith for Gujarat Lions, Joss Butler and Parthiv Patel for Mumbai Indians and Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine for Kolkota Knight Riders are combinations that have been successful in this regard.
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In this manner more often than not they have enabled their teams to post totals of 175 to 200 runs and put the opposing teams under pressure. Teams too have realized the importance of picking up wickets regularly in order to restrict the totals of the batting side. Fielding has played a very important role in this respect and while some stunning catches have been taken some easy drops have not helped in this cause.
I have had the pleasure of watching most matches during this tournament and I am of the view that Mumbai Indians have the best balanced team in batting and bowling, catering to the requirements of T20 cricket. Kolkota Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad have been playing some good cricket and are in contention for the top spot in this tournament.
However despite the good form shown by these teams, when it comes to the knock out stage of the tournament a bad game can upset the more fancied sides. Everything points to some entertaining and absorbing cricket as the tournament reaches its final stages.
