The REAL Cricket Carnival Begins..

The 50-50 world cup ain't got shit on this form of the game. Who said the 20-over format doesn't showcase skill? Can you launch a 158 run plunder in 70-odd balls in any format of the game? Yes - then why doesn't anyone do it then? Really, I don't see an excuse why not!?
The inaugural desi-T20 tournament has begun. For a country which shunned T20, and then went on to beat all but one team to lift its first World Cup, this is remarkable progress. Indians have gotten a smack of the real-deal with the WC win, and that was the shot in the arm the game needed. It was a script Lalit Modi or the ICC couldn't have written any better. We are easily the best team in the format of the game, with the sloppy game at the MCG being the only blip on the radar of the 10 odd matches India has played so far.
And to think we spoilt our appetite leading up to the IPL with that horrible test-series against South Africa. I can't even name 5 members of the Proteas' squad without a long pause. The only reason I can re-call Graeme Smith's heroics was for his super-hot model girlfriend, "Slinky" Minky (Ok that and his fantastic 90 off 55 at the Wanderers in that massive 430+ run chase against the Aussies).
Some khadi wearing leftists, those ugly toads - warts and all - touted the T20 as being about Money, and not about the game? Hello? When we grew up back in the 80's nobody even considered sport as a career, because we knew how India treated its sportsmen. No diet, no training facilities, and worst of it all, no money to show for all your efforts. Decades of socialist rot has messed up the minds of the generations past, but the current crop of youngsters in a crude way believe in the youngistan philospophy "Chaho to sab kuch hai asaan!". And so they should!
The IPL has had a teriffic start with the Royal Challengers being Royally F-ed. To have Jaffer and Dravid open the innings is a joke I haven't quite stopped laughing at. By now, Vijay Mallya (Dr.) needs to realize that Dravid is a spent force in each and every form of the game - for a man who ditched the Indian captaincy the way he did, he went a few notches down in my view. I mean the guy chews off his fingernails as a captain when opposition players built any semblance of a partnership. With Zaks, Knoffe and Cameron White being creamed at 18+ an over, the man must have had a damn hernia!! For the Royal Challengers Dale Steyn and Kumble were definitely missed. In all, the only worry with the IPL is the overdose of cricket. My feeling is that it should get a separate 3 month slot on the International calender. Preferably in winter. April, May and June are the worst times to play cricket in India - period - we can reserve these months for tours to the Southern Hemisphere or England.
Meanwhile somewhere in the ICL studios, Kapil Dev is still harping "Am I doing something wrong?" Yes, my man, you are! you bet on the wrong horse.