Just want to pen a quick thought having seen the IPL stuff.

In a mere nut shell -- AAHHH ... I love It .. I am loving the each game played each ball bowled this summer... It's a fantastic feeling... A real treat to watch,

What made this tourney Sooo special??

1) It's been a fantastic exhibition of Quality Cricket, where players are bringing their best in each game ..
2) Irrespective of nation, cadre and experience we are able to see players complimenting and collaborating each other. For example -- Ricky Ponting Congratulates Wridhiman Saha after a stupendous catch at eden gardens. I don’t think ever in his life time, the young lad would have imagined standing next to the legendary Ricky Ponting.
3) Young Guns are all set to make the difference, take a look at Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Sangwan likes... It’s absolutely brilliant to give this folks a chance to perform at this level .. who has shown some promise and did establish themselves
4) A strange yet innocuous feeling for these legends.. Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, Chris Gayle, Stephen Fleming, Mahela Jayawardena.. I want to quote Arun lal . "for a moment Ricky Ponting at slips .. Joins his hands to energize his boys and all of a sudden realizes that he is not the Captain of the day :)"
5) If I were to agree and emphasize with Guru Greg for the first time .. " It's not the Iconic players, nor the super stars .. its the lads on the other level who is going to make the difference" which is seemingly true as we see Pragyan Ojha, Dinda, Shikar Dhawan ... likes making a Real Difference for their respective teams
6) We now know what money makes... (Sorry to sound harsh) -- we now saw how Micheal Hussey, Shane Watson, Gilly and Kallis can turn things around .. Which they never done for quite some time wearing their national cap
7) This tournament unearthed spectacular opportunities for Iconic players to Perform, demonstrate and re-establish... If not anything else, . At least gratify their zest to play on the cricket ground ..
8) In many words and many ways.. This tournament going to excavate astounding talent pool and bench strength... by far and perhaps keeping the perennial problems of Indian cricket, at check ..
9) Very lively atmosphere all around the ground... Which essentially adds an element of glamor to the game .. none the less, the cheer gals and their performances --
10) The opportunities it brought forth to build brands and get the tremendous bang for the buck: The Nokia, Relliances, Spice, Kingfishers and DLFs on the ground .. Vodafones, Max New York Life, Godrejs, Hyundayis off the ground .. good work ...
11) Above all -- here is a game -- that has no politics, no captaincy woes, no bookies, no limitations, no favoritisms, no reprimands... I want to quote Citicorp Chairman Mr. Walton Wriston ..." The Solution to Scandals? Simpler Rules”- The Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2002.
I don’t care who wins ... who loses, it's an unique feast of quality play and entertainment .. A grand regale of Antics and Strategies... a grotesque celebration of game of cricket .. yes .. all set .. A NEW ERA OF CRICKET HAS JUST BEGUN".

It won’t be fair if I end this piece without the mention of two things..

1) The credit should, undoubtedly, be accredited to Mr. Subhash Chandra for being the pioneer of this concept and Mr. Lalit Modi for fabricating such a lucrative revenue model out of the game ..(I am researching more on this revenue model.. keep watching I am gonna bring forth some astonishing statistics soon)
2) I am keen to watch Guru Greg as a designated commentator for the game between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday May 8th 2007.

Disclaimer: With due regards to Traditional Test Cricket and ODI… here I just tried to highlight the entertainment aspect of the game and the way the game is changing colors. It’s inevitable that we may invite this change, which is, in so many ways … Present and Permanent.

---------------------------------Srikrishna Chintalapati