Cricket Madness

It's that magical time of year again.  Back home, my beloved Detroit Red Wings are back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which during a normal April means I would be camped out at my local corner tavern with a beer and a rabid look on my face.  In my present circumstance, however, I've had to console myself by developing a casual interest in Indian cricket.

What my American readers may not know is that there is more than one form of cricket.  Up until three years ago, you had two options: games could take forever, or they could take an eternity.  (In other words, matches would take either one or five days.  Yes, entire days.)  Leagues and matches are most important when they're across nations, for instance when India takes on Australia or Pakistan.  A lot of patriotism is tied up in cricket, and things probably do get ugly--although it's a gentleman's game, played all in white.

Then, a new version of cricket was born named Twenty20, which could take as little (!) as five hours, and which promotes more action, more active swinging by batsmen.  I guess it's cricket's version of the home run derby.  The BCCI, India's governing cricket body, inked all sorts of lucrative deals to start a new Twenty20 League called the India Premier League, or IPL, which is the first city-based league in all of India.  I had thought cricket was a big deal during the World matches, but four weeks ago I began being doubly bombarded by Delhi Daredevils this and Rajasthani Royals that.  You can't walk into a single store without seeing some sort of IPL-related promotion.  Even Cafe Coffee Day, the Indian Starbucks, is offering a special coffee smoothie for Daredevils fans.

Once, I asked if it were possible to get tickets to an IPL game.  "Oh, no," I was assured.  "You cannot get tickets.  And even people who cannot get tickets will still fight to climb the trees outside the stadium to watch the games."  My guess is, that's a fight I would lose.  I'll settle for watching on TV.

Not that it's very difficult to watch cricket on TV.  The outdoor pavilion at Ansal Plaza, a mall down the street from my hotel, broadcasts IPL games on a bigscreen for free to anybody who happens to be in the neighborhood.  How refreshing, in an era of pay-per-view and home-team blackouts!  It makes for a pleasant evening to spend cheering on the team with your fellow Delhi-ites (even if the evening stretches from lunchtime well past dinner...)

It's funny, too, that IPL represents a huge departure for Indian sport.  It's the first league to be really commoditized.  Previously, there hadn't been any market for sports jerseys or memorabilia.  Everything was white!  IPL changed all that, and colors and logos look just the same as any baseball or football team back home. In just its third year, the jersey craze has caught on like wildfire.  There are just as many Daredevils shirts in Delhi as there are Colts jerseys in Indy.

Frankly, I'm surprised nobody thought of this sooner!  How quickly can field hockey and football do the same?

Understandably, the new word on the street is "expansion".  New teams may be added, and maybe even new leagues.  Will they field a similar Twenty20 league in the US?  Will there be exhibition games soon in LA?  I'll be watching for it.  Now, if only they would start bringing ice hockey matches to the subcontinent... Then I would REALLY be happy.