The Relevance of the IPL
I am a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to the IPL. I have been in love with the game of cricket for as long as I remember and yet I have tried to convince myself and everybody who cares to listen to me that the IPL does not excite me. There were many reasons for this. While I have nothing to justify this tag that I have bestowed upon myself, I consider myself a purist and consider test match cricket as the ultimate form of the game. Test cricket has always excited me. My favorite players, the likes of VVS Laxman, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid are masters of the longer version of the game but have never quite been considered as essential ingredients when it came to the IPL (To be fair Dravid and Rahane have been pretty successful in the IPL). Test cricket has a rhythm, a narrative, a story that the shortest version in the game of cricket can never replicate. Why get excited in watching Virat Kohli bat for twenty overs when I can have the option of watching him bat for over two days. Can any twenty-twenty game replicate the drama and excitement that was witnessed over five days during the test match at Brisbane between India and Australia?