The Indian Premier League (IPL) has taken 
the cricketing world by storm and served up its fair share of controversy on the way. For a start, the league kicks off with an auction where Indian and the cream of the world’s leading international players are bought by participating teams.
Not even during the height of slavery was human flesh in such great demand (although, truth be told, it’s still not a patch on football’s English Premier League).
Then there is the fact that for four years in a row (for as long as the IPL has been around) Pakistani players have been overlooked. So much for sport going beyond borders. Then there is the spectacle. Huge amounts of money are involved, not just in buying players but also in the extravaganza that is each and every game.
Three years ago, during its second year, the IPL was moved to South Africa to ensure the safety of the players involved – India was embroiled in some conflict the Pakistan at the time. Since then cricket mad South Africans, who would have loved the game anyway, have been particularly fond of the short Twenty20 season.
This year fans of the game are in for an even bigger treat as the IPL starts only five days after the ICC World Cup ends. That’s not much time for players and fans to recover, but somehow I think that the fans, even those with World Cup hangovers won’t complain. And things keep on getting better for spectators as this year sees the addition of two more teams to the IPL, which means more matches and more opportunities to suffer from a cricket overdose.
Adding to the glitz and glamour of the event is the involvement of a number of Bollywood stars. Not content merely to sit in the stands as passive observers, many of Bollywood’s elite own IPL teams. For instance, Shahrukh Khan (one of the biggest heartthrobs on the Indian movie scene) co-owns Kolkata Knight Riders, Preity Zinta (who gets very emotionally involved in each game) co-owns Kings XI Punjab and Shilpa Shetty co-owns Rajasthan Royals.
In case you’re wondering what kind of money is involved the most paid for a local player was $1.5 million – MS Dhoni. The most paid for an international player was $1.35 million — Australia’s Andrew Symonds. The highest paid for a South African player is $900,000 – Jacques Kallis.
The nice thing about IPL Twenty20, aside from the excitement, celebrities and fireworks, is that the players genuinely seem to have a good time. It’s a competition, make no mistake, but they all go out there to have fun, and that kind of attitude is contagious. So, regardless of how hard they played in the World Cup, we can be assured that our guys will go out there and give their all come the first week of April. The only question is: which team are you going to support?
Jade Scully is a copywriter excited about writing copy and stories, blogging about the world and editing. She currently and regularly publishes her stories on a number of blogs. Jade loves animals and hopes to begin writing copy for the animal rescue charity TEARS as her contribution to the cause.
