To say that the Indian Premier League has been a tremendous success is an understatement. It has exceeded everybody’s expectations by a large margin. When this concept was mooted, admittedly as a reaction to the Indian Cricket League, nobody was quite sure what to expect.

Franchises costing $100 million seemed overpriced, as did the players, some of whom would receive more than $1million for a 45-day commitment. And then there were retired players like Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath – were they really going to survive in this newest form of cricket?

Well, one month on, a lot of these questions have been resoundingly put to rest. The television ratings have been so spectacularly high, the advertisers are asking what will happen for the rest of the year.

‘A good team of average players will always beat an average team of good players. Rajasthan Royals are truly a champion team’


Spectators and fans have taken to the newest format of the game like fish to water. It is not just the average cricket fan (of which there are plenty in India) but also casual cricket followers who have taken to the new format in a big way. This has actually become proper entertainment for the whole family in the way of a movie or a restaurant. Music, cheerleaders and an electric atmosphere have taken sports entertainment to a new level in India, which perhaps would soon rival those in the US and the UK.

The quality of the cricket has also been good. There have been some surprises in who has dominated the league. It was perhaps expected that the younger players would come to the fore in the IPL. But it has been the older and even retired players like Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne who have been the real stars. While Gilchrist has scored the fastest century in the league in just 42 balls, Warne is the leading wicket-taker.

Sanath Jayasuriya is another player whose batting is on fire. To be fair, there have been a few disappointments as well. Bangalore Royal Challengers still look more like a Test team. Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, both cricketing legends in their own right, do not belong in this format of the game. Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers – a very strong team on paper and with two of the leading run scorers in the league in Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma and one of the leading wicket takers in RP Singh – are languishing at the bottom of the league. VVS Laxman, another great Test cricketer, should not have been in this league at all.

But Deccan Chargers are testament to the fact that a collection of really good players does not make a real good team. Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, have few big names, and in fact were chastised by the IPL for underbidding at the player auction. But led by Warne, who has not even played an ODI in a while, they are on top of the league.

A good team of average players will always beat an average team of good players. Rajasthan Royals are truly a champion team.

Chennai Super Kings started in a fine fashion and then struggled after losing a couple of top players midway through the tournament, but they have recovered sufficiently to be on target for the semi-finals. It helps that their captain is MS Dhoni.

Mumbai Indians (does the name mean that the other cities are out of India?) started out by losing four in a row. But with Sachin Tendulkar back and Jayasuriya in top form, they are well on their way to the semi-finals.

The fourth semi-finalist most likely will be Kings 11 Punjab, who really have been in the news only because Shantha Sreesanth was slapped by Harbhajan Singh, who subsequently was banned from the league for the remainder of the games.

Kolkata Knight Riders are on the fringe of getting into the semi-finals and they have been strengthened by Shoaib Akhtar coming into the team; and what an entry it was. It has been a month of terrible stress for Akhtar, and for him to come back like this showed a lot of character. Another team on the fringe are the Delhi Daredevils. Despite great batsmen like Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag and the bowling of Glenn McGrath, they are unable to dominate as a team and may also not make it into the semi-finals.

The tournament itself has not been without controversies. Apart from the ‘Slapgate’ affair between Sreesanth and Singh, Knight Riders’ owner Shah Rukh Khan has been asked by the ICC to stay out of the players’ dugout. SRK promptly replied that he will always be in the dugout for the support of his players. The weird part is where does the ICC get this code? The concept of cricket franchises and owners is completely new.

There are a lot of positives also, as young players are getting a chance in this league and are learning by playing alongside the finest international players. It was also very moving to see that not one of the players decided to leave Jaipur after the recent terrorist explosion there.

The league clearly has taken cricket to the next commercial level. The ICC must respond by creating a window for the IPL in the cricket calendar. It is very silly that players like Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting have to forego a good amount of money while the league loses some of its star appeal because of scheduling conflicts.

This is a good chance for a lot of cricketers to make their fortunes and they should not have to choose between playing for their country – or even retiring – and the IPL.