Nostalgia and the Indian Premier League of Cricket

Relaxing with a bit of Cricket on the telly. Photo Credit: Ayesha Sitara

Chicken tikka masala, beers, thirty or so friends, a large screen with Chennai Super Kings playing Rajasthan Royals. This is how Easter Saturday would have played out back in India, where Cricket is truly a religion. But the reality is that here in the UK, as surprising as it can be for all those ardent cricket fans from back home, there is nothing gastronomical or friendly about the experience. Thank goodness, then, for beer and ITV!

Although it was England that gave the world cricket, football has long since taken over as the game that rules the roost here. But in India, cricket is still going strong. The Indian Premier League (IPL) started three years ago and is fashioned on quite similar lines to the English premiership with home and away round robin matches.

Our own Saad Mustafa’s Cricket Simplified will give you an idea of the basics of cricket and its different formats. Out of these formats, the IPL is the most exciting one, with batsmen scoring at will all over the stadium. With only twenty overs at their disposal they tend to go for the big unorthodox shots compared to other forms of the game.

Life-threatening excitement

There is almost no time to think in a cricket game and most matches tend to be explosive with nail-biting finishes. Some people in India are so passionate about it that two years ago a nerve-racking match ended in a heart attack for a fan. Eight clubs – Mumbai, Chennai, Punjab, Rajasthan, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bangalore – or franchises as they are known, vie for the coveted title and prize money of about £1 million for the winner and £500,000 for the runner-up.

Not just for Indians

The IPL is not just about Indian players; It has a crème de la crème of international cricket players as well. Kevin Pietersen from England plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Adam Gilchrist from Australia captains Deccan Chargers, Shane Bond from New Zealand plays for Kolkota Knight Riders to name a few.

IPL history

The first edition of the IPL which was played in 2008 was won by the underdogs Rajasthan Royals in a scintillating series. The second edition was sadly shifted to South Africa for security reasons as it clashed with the Indian general elections and the government of India could not guarantee the safety of the international players. The 2009 IPL was a nail-biting finish with Deccan Chargers carrying the trophy home.

What lies ahead?

There  are a total of 60 matches played in twelve venues for a period of 44 days. With just another two weeks to go for the final on Sunday April 25, who will win? Your guess is as good as mine. For the moment, Mumbai Indians are sitting pretty at the top of the table. But, if you want to know the answer and fancy some chicken tikka masala, beers and more enlightenment on the IPL, then let’s have a party. The invitation is open to one and all. If not, there is still ITV and pints as company for the rest of the season.