At Last..Cricket in whites

I was so relieved to read the proceedings in Lords where the 1st Test between England and Kiwis took place. But at the same time, I was a little baffled since the headlines on most websites instead chose to continue putting IPL on center stage. Well, am not against IPL as such or for that matter the cheerleaders, but the fact is that its been going for a touch too long now. Entertainment's good, but only if its within check. IPL is growing or rather being promoted rather uninhibitedly.

Well, no doubt that most cricket watchers wouldn't have known about the potential of some of the Indian domestic players without IPL, since BCCI has (in)advertently done all it can to kill the biggest domestic tournament of the country - the Ranji Trophy. Its quite mystifying to think that they were never able to schedule the domestic tournaments at a time when all the national squad players were available all this while, and now they have managed to stitch together a tournament which is dictating the international calendar, which could only be potentially matched by the World Cup. Money can do wonders and perhaps Modi and co. and too busy minting it to take note of that. Accepted..

People are comparing the Packer revolution to IPL - a question which would probably be answered in the time to come. I just hope the answer doesn't turn out to be true, since it probably would prompt all wannabe Rahul Dravids to instead have the likes of Afridi as their mentor. Funny as it might sound.

Further, if the folks at the top think that they'd soon be seeing the fanaticism of the crowds supporting their own teams, then I pity the people of other states.. Well, one never knows but BCCI may come up with any team.. the Bhopali Blunders!