Srini's Blog: The IPL Carvinal = Cricket + Entertainment

If there are two things India loves, they are Cricket and movies. IPL, the twenty twenty carnival of a tournament cleverly combines both the above -- cricket and movies. And judging from the response so far, its a grand success in the cricket loving nation!

I had been to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Vs Kolkata Knight riders match today (Apr 26, 2008) and I was thrilled by the carnival atmosphere. From music to cheer leading to giant batsmen to team mascots, the carnival was in full form.

We entered the stadium through gates 6 and 7 and managed to get a seat with a very good viewing position.

Music was played live -- by RJ's and a couple of pro singers -- and our section of the crowd swayed along. The crowd was just filling in. We could get a very good view of the happenings, thanks to our newly purchased binoculars.

We were sweating it out in the merciless, scorching sun of Chennai -- saved only by the "Zebronics 6'er" Placards we were holding.

The crowd erupted with cheers, claps and drums and party sounds and we got to our feet to find the teams coming out for the practice session. It was pretty exciting to see the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, Matthew Hayden, MS Dhoni and Jacob Oram practicing as a team..
On the other side of the ground, only one figure looked "familiar" -- Ishant Sharma! Except his "omnipresent" self, none of the other Kolkata knights could be recognized from our position.
Our seciton of the crowd crowd cheered wildly when Dhoni came close to our area.

The toss was rolled out and the teams went away to their pavilions and the music kept going all along. At around 355 pm, we saw a the giant screen read "IPL World feed. On air."

The world watched and the crowd erupted as the CSK team filled into the ground. The match was about to begin and the stadium was jam packed by this point of time.

The first ball got under way and Ganguly was opening the batting for the knights. The going was a bit slow and then suddenly, the crowd erupted furiously. The first wicket had fallen and we too cheered for the CSKs and Jacob oram for drawing first blood.
Ricky ponting came in next and was out on his first delivery. Jacob Oram was on a hattrick. The next batsman somehow averted the hattrick.

Drummer Sivamani was playing the drums for every boundary or at the end of the over or just to keep the crowd engaged. The crowd never had a dull moment. Music was also played now and then, apart from the Siva's drums. The carnival was at its peak.

Muralitharan was introduced into the attack and it was pretty amazing to see him bowl his off spinners - the binoculars gave a very good view. It was amazing. His bowling left the knights high and dry as he was tough to put away and only singles were on offer -- no big shots.

But on the other end of the attack, Shukla (Kolkata) -- a local talent -- blasted away a few balls. He was entertaining and also innovative at times.

The match progressed on and wickets kept tumbling, including Ganguly. Clearly, the knights were in trouble at 70-5 with almost every recognized batsman gone.

They then built a slow and steady partnership, but never really went bang bang. They ended up with a rather low score of 147.

We had to navigate a sea of people to get out of our seat, get the snacks and get back to our seats. The crowd was too much in the stalls for the cops to control.

Back in the seat, music was being played and cheer leaders danced along in the break period and we got a much needed drink. The break was rather short -- much shorter than the breaks of ODI's even -- as the CSK entered the stadium for the chase. The crowd erupted.

The ball disappeared to various parts of the ground as Hayden and Parthiv patel were milking the bowling of the knight riders. The crowd erupted for every boundary and every "half" boundary.

The match progressed on and Parthiv patel got out. Dhoni replaced him and was greeted by a loud roar and chants of "Dhoni, Dhoni.." from the crowd as he made his way to the pitch.

The duo of Dhoni and Hayden blasted were settling for a partnership and a bit of boredom settled in. Suddenly the crowd near us erupted, but the other parts of the crowd were silent. A mexican wave was going on. It was mesmerizing just to look at it. We too joined in.

The duo seemed unshakable and blasted away the bowling and the crowd's cheer was as loud as ever for every big shot. The other team's good efforts in the field were also appreciated. The Chennai crowd is known for its "fair" applause and it lived up to its name.

Hayden made his 50 and the crowd gave a loud applause.

As the match was drawing to a close, we saw "giant batsmen" dancing along with cheer leaders as a rather long "fielding" change was being made.

It had little or no effect. There were only three runs to win. The CSK's marched along and won comfortably as Dhnoi danced down the track and the crowd gave its loudest eruption yet. The match was over. The carnival was over and it was time to face the long winding vehicle queue as the crowd disbursed and we made our way to the parking area.

IPL is certainly a hit in India. But will it become as big as EPL is very much doubtful at the moment. That will probably take much more time and money. For now, its safe to say the yearly carnival will have India hooked to stadiums and TV sets till June 1.

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Pics from the carnival match:

Cops on horses:

Gates 6 and 7, our entry point to the ground:

The CSK Mascot:

The ground, before start of play:

CSK's training:

A part of the crowd:

Another part of the crowd:

Jacob Oram close to our position:

My bro with coolers (Vinoth's :)):

Me n bro:

My friend Vinoth:

Roarr.. A tiger (guy):

Kolkata knight riders on the field:

Drums Sivamani close to our position:

Ajit agarkar standing near the rop and Drums Sivamani playing along:

Six!! This little piece of carbboard saved us from the scorching sun earlier in the day by providing cover and also doubled up as a handy fan, not to mention also helped us show some support for the CSKs: