skip to content
Premium
This is an archive article published on April 22, 2009
Premium

Opinion Little to remember,lots to forget

Modi’s biggest worry must be the number of lopsided matches. Twenty20 cricket thrives on photo finishes,but of the six IPL matches until Tuesday night,even one hasn't gone down to the wire.

New DelhiApril 22, 2009 07:17 PM IST First published on: Apr 22, 2009 at 07:17 PM IST

For a man who knows it all,there must be some explanation why IPL commissioner Lalit Modi,an astute businessman,didn’t know about ‘Mediterranean-type’ climate until he ran into it.

One of the primary reasons why the IPL preferred South Africa over England was the bad weather in Ol’ Blighty. South Africa,it was concluded,would be safe and sunny. But as the IPL is experiencing now,the theory doesn’t apply to all parts of the Rainbow Nation. Cape Town,for example,gets rains only in the winter. And the irony couldn’t have been more striking as the England’s domestic cricket has started in surprisingly pleasant conditions

Advertisement

However,in an edition where everything seems to be going wrong,the elements have been only a minor dampener. Modi’s biggest worry must be the number of lopsided matches. Twenty20 cricket thrives on photo finishes,but of the six IPL matches until Tuesday night,even one hasn’t gone down to the wire. The victory margins have been huge – 10 wickets,eight wickets,92 runs,75 runs. And then there are those uncalled-for ‘strategy breaks’,which kill the momentum of the game.

But every dark cloud has a silver lining. Even in the middle of this insipid start,there have been a few moments of genuine brilliance that have punctuated the yawns. Virat Kohli stepping out to Shane Warne,and in the process making a fool of himself; the triumvirate of Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly (the bowler) proving they are good enough for Twenty20; and,of course,Bruno the dog’s 14-minute cameo that generated uninterrupted applause as he roamed about freely during the Chennai-Mumbai match at Newlands on the first day.

Other than that,it has been a horribly dull tournament so far. And the worst part is that it has only just begun.

Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Edition
Install the Express App for
a better experience
Featured
Trending Topics
News
Multimedia
Follow Us