IPL - The way things are shaping up

Indian Premier League (IPL) - the much hyped up T20 league has got off to a huge start. Going by what happened on the opening day of this series, the amount of publicity and positive response garnered from the general public was very high. TheTRP ratings for SET Max hit the roof and broke all previous records for cricket.( Link) Though the crowds in the stadium thinned down for the Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings, the subsequent matches witnessed pretty good crowds.

Some thoughts...

Match Winners

As of now it's been batsmen all the way. Before this series started, my friend Robin was saying that a "team would be as strong as the weakest link" and I agreed with him. Little did I realise the irony of this statement then. For, it was the bowling department which was as strong as the weakest link. Batsmen can easily go after one or two bowlers and get high scores. On the other hand, the batting department shone as brightly as the brightest star batsman of the day. A look at the man of the match (MoM) awards will glaringly reveal this fact. One out of the past seven matches featured a bowler getting the MoM award - Mahroof in Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals. A batsman's contribution gets more highlight than a bowler's contribution. Case in point: Shane Watson's 76 n.o. was judged to be better than Shane Warne's 3-19 in Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab. Though it might seem too early to reach these conclusions based on just seven matches, these results are an indicator for the way things will shape up.

Team Loyalty

It's way too early to expect die hard supporters for each team. The stadium still has people sporting the Indian tricolours during the matches. It will definitely take some time to witness fan loyalty for the teams on the lines of English Premier League. There will be a spark which will light up the flames of passion and create rivalries. But it's still early days for that.

Scheduling and Competition

If IPL becomes a success, other cricket boards would want to start their respective domestic leagues.

There will come a time when these league matches will become more popular and better money spinners than international matches. One day matches will become passé but test matches will stay. Soon cricket will become a global game, as envisaged by ICC.

Enough of dreams, wake up to the reality! The only thing I expect to happen in the medium term is the huge scramble for the best talented players from each country. As long as this format doesn't seep to the lowest leagues with every level being professionally managed the above words would only be words.

Enough of thoughts. It's now time to cheer Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Welcome to the lion's den my dear Mumbai Indians (MI). Well, MI would better describe what Team Mumbai is trying to achieve - Mission Impossible!!

Check out the Chennai Super Kings' fan site.

Kalahasti Trip

Finally, a break from the boring routine of doing nothing came in the form of a trip to Kalahasti. 120 km from Chennai and just 45 km away from Tirupati, this town is centred around its famous Lord Shiva temple. The trip in itself itself was interesting with good roads and beautiful sceneries. Here are some snaps from the trip:

Once you get away from the rush of Chennai traffic, the NH5 is pretty good. Except for a small stretch of the state highway near Tada the entire drive was very enjoyable.

Google Docs - Please be more user friendly!

I've been using Google Docs for quite some time. In fact, I type all my posts in Google Docs before posting in my blogs. It's good to see Google introducing the offline editing capability through Google Gears. However there's one basic feature which has been missed out. Every time I create a new document it's by default created in the root folder, and not in the folder I am currently browsing.

There's a feature in Microsoft Excel where in when I have to enter a table, I just have to keep pressing tab after typing the data. Once I reach the end of the column I just need to press "Enter" key to go to the beginning of the next row. Sadly, this feature is not there in Google Spreadsheet.

These are only minor features, but will go a long way in making Google Docs more user-friendly and easier to use!

Tasting Thunder difficult in Chennai

Among all the cola brands, Thums Up was the only drink which I liked. My days at Planet-I were not complete without taking a sip of Thums Up. A desi brand like Thums Up was liked by people in the young teenage group - more than rivals like Pepsi and Coke. In fact this brand has its own cult following.

When I moved back home to Chennai, I so badly wanted to get a 1.5L bottle and drink it during the hot afternoons. Sadly, Thums Up's distribution in Chennai is very poor. It's so difficult even to get the one that comes in glass bottles. Why such a situation here in a metro, when it is so widely available in even the remotest of places in Central India?