Its been a mouthwatering experience to have witness the great game of cricket played in a wonderful atmosphere, under lights in a packed house of 40,000 at the Chinaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

I have been a huge follower of Twnety20 cricket since its inception way back in the days of Martin Crowe’s Max cricket. I love this format of the game and cannot understand why cricket should not go beyond its traditional boundaries.

The Twenty20 format evolved in England in 2003 but we had it in India some 20 years back - we grew up playing and observing this version of the game. So it is no surprise that this IPL extravaganza is based in India.

'And of course the BCCI is laughing all the way to the bank with IPL making it the richest sporting body in the world'


The  IPL draws maximum coverage, maximum crowds and maximum revenue, especially compared to ODIs and Tests. Around 2.5 million people have been to the games and the league is top of the TV ratings. So successful has been the format and organisation that English and even American executives are getting interested.

And of course the BCCI is laughing all the way to  the bank with IPL making it the richest sporting body in the world. Hardly surprising when you consider that the IPL expects to break even in its first year of business.  

Twenty20 is here to stay and IPL is the undisputed heavyweight champion provider. American billionaire Allen Stanford is in talks with the ECB about a one-off England-Caribbean match-up worth millions. He can see the potential.

If you look ten years on, there is no reason why China cannot challenge the Indian dominance as it is the only country that matches India in population. Imagine a world Twenty20 tournament heeld in 2020 in China with crowds of 100,000 and a billion people watching every match!