Cricketainment closes. For now.

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It pinches to see a non-Indian captain walk away with the first IPL trophy but I can stomach that when I think how much his team deserves to win. The Rajasthan Royals were branded the underdogs when they started out gingerly at the tournament kick-off. But what a surprise the underdogs sprung - match after match. Soon, they were quite unbeatable. There is something heart-warming about watching a bunch of gawky, unsophisticated youngsters respond beautifully to strong leadership and perform together as a team. I even rooted for the Royals in their matches against Bangalore and my favorites, Kolkata. Much has been said and written about the Royals and how inspired captaincy can weave magic. Every commentator has an opinion on what made Shane Warne tick. Some said strategizing, some said role allocation; I even read someone talking about 'the human touch'(quite literally). This is not the end; we're going to see realms on this, if you care to read.

It was a colorful closing ceremony but I feel it did not come even close to the grandness of the opening ceremony in Bangalore. That seemed classier. Besides, it was spiked with the anticipation of some exciting cricket. Of course, that opening match was the epitome of 'cricketainment'.

At Sunday night's ceremony, there were Bollywood starlets dancing to the popular numbers. But the choreography seemed jerky and the routines unrehearsed. The camera kept zooming in on the star dancer at uninspired angles. I mean, I agree some find it sexy, but for how long can one take it if the TV screen is filled with Shamita Shetty's midriff alone? Or with Salman Khan's belt buckle? And was it just me or did you also balk at the outrageously garish costumes?

Thank God the match started and went on to a nail-biting finish. Much as I would have liked Dhoni to lift the IPL trophy (God, wasn’t that a horribly garish piece of work too?), the best team won. And that’s fair, I guess.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The great thing about the IPL for me was watching so many nations come together and overcoming differences... So, it perahps seemed fitting that a team with the non-Indian captain won too... After all, it was for the first time that cricket went beyond the boundaries of nations. Of course, it still divided us into cities :)

Christina
June 10, 2008 at 10:46 PM
Mumukshu said…
You're right, Christina. I think I watched IPL with uninhibited pleasure because it was a format in which one didnt need to take sides. Each team had someone you could support, something you could cheer for. One didn't feel bogged down by expectations of nationalistic sentiments. Actually, it made me think how deep rooted our parochialism sometimes is. One really needs to make an effort to overcome that dark part of us. Even then, what if we all are only being politically correct and the truth still lies buried deep inside?
June 11, 2008 at 1:13 AM
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