Manasi Agarwal

There is a new record for every ball bowled in the game of cricket. Besides reporting for any match or the event, it is always our endeavor to bring something fascinating for the lovers of the game to cherish. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the biggest sporting events in the world. It has revolutionized the way we look at cricket and has captivated the imagination of millions and millions cricket crazy fans by providing the ideal mix of glamour and entertainment. Apart from providing fun and entertainment to the spectators, it also is a billion dollar game-changer for everyone involved in this event from players to the BCCI with complete package for a country where cricket is revered. We bring out some of the innovations in the IPL that make the cash-rich event stand out from T20 international cricket.

1. The Cheerleader Effect:

The fans of cricket had a surprise in the first season of the IPL in 2008 with the introduction of cheerleading phenomena. There was much hullabaloo about the introduction of cheerleaders in cricket, but India has warmed up to them surprisingly well. They are as much an attraction as the match itself, dancing to Bollywood numbers when there is a boundary or a wicket to cheer for. Of course, the self-righteous moral police have created much noise about their skimpy clothing or dance moves and in came a mix of male and female dancers in franchise’s native dresses.

2. The Strategic Time-Outs:

When the IPL moved to South Africa in 2009, mastermind Lalit Modi decided to compensate for the loss in revenues by squeezing more advertisements in timeouts of seven and a half minutes each after 10 overs of each innings. Now, the timeouts are two and a half minutes long and the bowling and batting sides can choose when to use them in each inning. So, ten minutes of extra ad-time and more eyeballs for advertisers.

3. Microphones into the thick of things:

Umpires, at the start of the match are wired up with the DJ at the stadium and hence, instead of just calling a dull “play”, he starts the match with asking “Are you ready batsman? Are you ready bowler? Are you ready Bangalore?” which is heard and cheered by the whole stadium and TV viewers. It was also interesting to have Kevin Petersen talk about the mood in the Royal Pune Supergiants camp and his observation of the leg-spinner M Ashwin. It was rather engaging from the audience point of view to have umpires or players to have a chat with the commentators during the heat of the moment.

4. Sponsors’ name all over commentary boxes:

“And Gayle has just dispatched that delivery for a DLF Maximum,” that’s something one must be quite used to listening to on the IPL broadcast. No, not the fact that Gayle hit a six, but the fact that the six in IPL is referred by the name of a sponsor. There is the ‘Vivo Perfect Catches’ that get awarded at the end of each game. Commentary was once a boring job just reporting on the events of the match but the IPL made it compulsory for commentators to brand a six as a “DLF Maximum” earlier and ‘Unacademy cracking six’ now.

5. IPL Late-Night Parties:

 As you have seen and read in newspapers, IPL matches were often followed by the IPL Nights after the match. These parties include everything from fashion shows to music to booze and continue till early in the morning. There were cricketers, team owners, businessmen, models and Bollywood celebrities all enjoying and relaxing after the match. Rupees 40,000/- ticket allowed an exclusive entry to these parties, apart from watching the match from the best location in the stadium.

6. The Fan Parks:

The IPL Fan Parks during the league were set up to enable all fans to have a stadium like experience through screening of the matches on giant screens at specifically selected Cities. Along with the screening of matches, visitors to the Fan Parks get to experience the IPL stadium atmosphere with the inclusion of MCs, music and DJs, concession and merchandising stalls and activations with participation from Official Sponsors.

7. Danny Morrison commentary:

Do you remember Danny Morrison commentating directly from the ground in his inimitable style reporting for the pitch while lying on it and mike in one hand? YouTube viewing ‘Danny Morrison commentary’ comes up with highlights reels totaling hundreds of thousands of views – and that’s just to listen to someone commentate. A six evoking the line: “This one’s got an air hostess on it” has been watched 187,000 times.

8. YouTube Fun Feed:

This is one thing which you must have missed. IPL is streaming its matches live (well… almost live) on YouTube, and apart from the usual television feed, there is another feed called the “Fun Feed”. This is basically live telecast of the match but from a totally entertainment point of view. IPL has a former Miss Universe hosting this feed and it includes interviews of team Owners, celebrities, the cheerleaders, players and of spectators about the match. Even the match is shown from different interesting camera angles. In short, the focus is more on the happenings in the stadium (entertainment) apart from the cricket itself.

Whatever thus may be the fun and real value of this league, it sure has contributed in uplifting the overall performance of players and Team India. This year also IPL has started with a bang with each team having played at least two matches. Royal Challengers Bangalore have made a good start to the tournament and one can finally feel that this is the year of RCB to lift the trophy. It is a long way to go for each team and we will wait and see who becomes the champions this time. We also have a strong bench strength for T20 format ahead of T20 World Cup in October this year.