Now that the test series between India and Australia is finished we can all concentrate on the biggest domestic cricket competition in the world, the Indian Premier League. (Five reasons why we love the Indian Premier League)
In a few days time the IPL will launch its tenth season which makes this a landmark season for the IPL organizers.
The IPL has changed the landscape of cricket in India and while there is a case to be made that is has harmed Indian cricket, we cannot deny the fact that it has also helped Indian cricket in many other ways.
But why do we as fans love the IPL ?
Here are the Five reasons why we love the Indian Premier League
5) Cricket meets Bollywood
There are only two mass media through which you can reach every nook and corner of India one being cricket and the other being bollywood.
India is known as a cricket crazy nation and its love for the game can only be matched by its love for the movies. So the IPL is an absolute treat for us because it the perfect amalgamation of scripted and unscripted entertainment. (Five reasons why we love the Indian Premier League)
Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty and Shahrukh Khan have played their part in the success and popularity of the IPL over the past ten years. Now people go to the IPL games to not only watch the cricket but to also get a glimpse of their on screen heroes.
It is almost too good to be true !
4) City vs City
Never before has a ‘City vs City’ concept been successfully implemented in India. But the IPL bucked the trend and now every league in the country is following the IPL model.
While the concept of city based loyalty was successful in the USA and Europe some people were apprehensive about how it would work in India. Would the Mumbai crowd actually boo Rahul Dravid?
Could the Eden Gardens actually want MS Dhoni to fail ? Could Sachin Tendulkar ever be booed in India ? (Five reasons why we love the Indian Premier League)
But it did work. And that was the genius of the concept, because now even someone who does not watch the game will support his team out of loyalty for his city.
3) International stars from all over the world
While the IPL is still a domestic league, the sheer money involved in the tournament has ensured that the very best players in the world give their all for their franchise teams and fight tooth and nail to win the competition.
It also gives us the possibility of watching some dream match ups that we never thought we would see. Who could have imagined Virat Kohli and ABD would one day be batting for the same team.
For a brief time we saw Shane Warne go up against Sachin Tendulkar again. We saw Shoaib Akhtar celebrating with Saurav Ganguly at the Eden Gardens.
We also saw Ponting, Symonds and Harbhajan celebrating a Mumbai Indians victory together. All because of the IPL.
ALSO READ : Five of the best matches in IPL history
2) High quality action
When you bring together the very best in the game you are almost guaranteed to have a very high level of cricketing action.
The reason why people still come back to watch the IPL is because of the thrilling edge of the seat matches that it has got to offer. All the teams in the tournament are evenly matched which makes the matches all the more competitive.
The Indian cricket fans love their cricket and they recognize that these matches are as good as anything that international cricket has got to offer. (Five reasons why we love the Indian Premier League)
We have seen the Bangeluru crowd adore ABD, the Mumbai crowd applaud their very own Lasith Malinga and the Eden Gardens roar in approval of the Shoaib Akhtar.
The fans love high quality performers which then leads to high quality cricket matches.
1) Cricket has become a family sport
While India has always been a cricket crazy nation, it was never something that the entire family would go and watch together.
That space was still occupied by the Bollywood movies. But the IPL has changed all that.
Now every one in the family goes for the IPL games. The matches last for about three hours which is just about the duration of a hindi movie.
The women in India have also started taking interest in the IPL as it there is a sense of belonging attached to the teams.
Arguably the biggest success of the IPL is the fact that it has made cricket a family sport in India.
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