Cricket is no more the sport that I used to know and like. The IPL has changed it beyond recognition. The sport has been stripped of its staid quality and transformed into a curious concoction of 40 overs of hurriedly-played game, skimpily-clad cheerleaders and other needless distractions.
Then there is the curious thing that IPL does to your loyalty. You don't feel the same rush that you experienced while watching a face-off between India and Pakistan. Or for that matter, India against any other team. Much like the team and the spirit, the IPL has managed to divide our loyalties, too. Leave aside Telengana and Gorkhaland, regionalism has crept its way into cricket and how!
I live in Kolkata, so I am supposed to cheer for Kolkata Knight Riders. This apart, there were two other factors that won my vote for the team — Shahrukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly. But that was way back in time. KKR’s disgraceful performance and Dada’s unceremonious exit left me and many more like me flummoxed. What ensued was a love-hate relationship with the team. When the team won, we love-lorn, smitten-by-SRK fans, felt happy for the charmer, but what held us back from an unrestrained show of glee was Dada, the hometown hero’s, absence. Well, you can’t tickle all things Bengali in us and expect us to cut down on the emotional quotient at the same time. My mother, a former SRK fan, has since then shunned his movies and cricket.
Then the confusion got a little more complicated. Dada became the captain of Pune Warriors. Never thought watching cricket would be so demanding!
Then there is the curious thing that IPL does to your loyalty. You don't feel the same rush that you experienced while watching a face-off between India and Pakistan. Or for that matter, India against any other team. Much like the team and the spirit, the IPL has managed to divide our loyalties, too. Leave aside Telengana and Gorkhaland, regionalism has crept its way into cricket and how!
I live in Kolkata, so I am supposed to cheer for Kolkata Knight Riders. This apart, there were two other factors that won my vote for the team — Shahrukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly. But that was way back in time. KKR’s disgraceful performance and Dada’s unceremonious exit left me and many more like me flummoxed. What ensued was a love-hate relationship with the team. When the team won, we love-lorn, smitten-by-SRK fans, felt happy for the charmer, but what held us back from an unrestrained show of glee was Dada, the hometown hero’s, absence. Well, you can’t tickle all things Bengali in us and expect us to cut down on the emotional quotient at the same time. My mother, a former SRK fan, has since then shunned his movies and cricket.
Then the confusion got a little more complicated. Dada became the captain of Pune Warriors. Never thought watching cricket would be so demanding!
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