Why the world should still care about the Indian Premier League

The initial IPL auction brought with it not only a scramble for the world’s top talent, but a cacophony of hype and excitement the likes of which hadn’t been seen in the world of cricket for many a year. Following this initial outpour of enthusiasm, there has been a distinctly muted response to the tournament itself from the British press, with websites such as BBC Sport not even producing scorecards for matches.

Is this right? Has the global cricket fan fallen out of love with the IPL as quickly as it arrived? And should we care about this far-flung smash-a-thon?

In my opinion, most definitely. Not just for the entertainment value inherent in watching Twenty20 cricket, but for the repercussions this will inevitably have on every cricket discipline around the world.

For a start, the matches themselves are gloriously engaging. From the vast quantity of sixes smashed into the crowd to the sight of middle stump cartwheeling towards the keeper as a slog is missed entirely, every moment carries intense excitement. The fact that every ball matters in this format of the game means that even a series of dot balls means something, adding great pressure to a batsman who needs to attain a strike rate of at least 100 to produce a ‘good innings’.