Notes from IPL 2016: Things that are making the tournament irksome

The ninth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is up and running. While the tournament is yet to gather full steam, there are, like always, several things to take note of about it.

There are many things to love and admire about the IPL and yet, there are quite a few things which can be quite infuriating about it as well. Here, we have listed a few things that are making the IPL irksome this year.

The new scorecard:

Whoever has designed the new IPL scorecard needs to be employed in a video game company. The scorecard – with all its snazzy look and glitzy sounds – is really gaudy and a sore on the eyes. Its fine to innovate and try and come up with new designs for the scorecards, but this is one is just ludicrous. Most of the times it is hard to fathom which batsman is on strike and what the required number of runs are; you have to strain your eyes to gauge the scorecard completely. This one is more suited for a wrestling video game.

The anchors:

So Pallavi Sharda – a little known Indian actress – and Rochelle Rao – a Kingfisher model – have been employed by the IPL to take care of anchoring duties in the matches this year. Now, one is not demeaning the above two mentioned ladies; they might well be very good in their actual professions. But why include them in anchoring cricket matches? Just for the glamour? Really IPL? And then you want yourself to be taken as a serious cricket tournament? Why? Just why can’t you hire actual sports anchors/presenters from the country and let them do their job? Mayanti Langer is a good case in point. But no, you simply have to take in drop dead gorgeous female personalities – even if they do not know a thing about anchoring, leave alone cricket itself,  and even if they end up embarrassing themselves and us too in the process.

The Strategic Timeouts:

They should now simply be called “Forced 2:30 minute ad breaks by us to mint more money”.  As if the normal commercial breaks aren’t annoying enough, these ‘Strategic Timeouts’ really make things insufferable; especially in a tense match. Let’s face it; nobody enjoys these timeouts, except the BCCI and their commercial partners.

Navjyot Singh Sidhu’s rants:

Sigh! Need we even elaborate on this? Sidhu was such a fine cricketer in his times and respected throughout the world for his gutsy batting and gentlemanly demeanor. All that, however, has gone down the drain now it seems. He has made a mockery of himself and relishes that fact. Listening to him drone on and on with his ‘Sidhuisms’ is really getting unnerving these days. You find Waqar Younis and Sunil Gavaskar in the post and pre-match shows of the IPL this year and want to listen to what they are saying. But no, Sidhu has to cut them or anyone else over and keep on ranting; even if he makes little or no sense. His endless spouts – disguised as an analysis of the game – can make you tear your hair in frustration or simply switch the television set off.

No Harsha Bhogle:

The sacking of world renowned Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle from the IPL this year has come in as a shock to all Indian cricket fans and has become one of the talking points of the tournament. Fans have expressed their rage and dissatisfaction with this decision of the BCCI and have even pledged to bring him back. One has to admit, without the recognized voice of Mr. Bhogle in the commentary box, there seems to be a gaping hole in the IPL this year; one which can never be filled by Danny Morrison’s fervid squeals. The way he provides intricate details of little-known cricketers and the way he goes on to bring a thrill in exciting match situations is unmatchable. While there are countless theories doing the rounds on the reasons of Harsha’s sacking, the thing is, if the BCCI really had their ears to the ground they would have never taken this ridiculous step. It has sullied their image in the eyes of the public further and it is the IPL, ultimately, which is suffering because of it.

These irksome things that we have mentioned about the IPL this year are unlikely to change. Hopefully, the cricket will be of supreme quality and will make us look above these minor glitches.

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