Those who follow me on Twitter will have seen that I was generally displeased with the IPL yesterday. While a Harbhajan-inspired Mumbai Indians beat the Deccan Chargers, I was finding all kind of faults with the IPL, from the rubbish commentary, constant adverts, and generally low standard of play. Deccan bowled brilliantly from overs 5-15, until the number 9 Harbhajan came in with Mumbai 100-7. Without wanting to knock a great innings from Harbhajan; there is no way that a tail-ender should hit 49* from 18 deliveries (one run from the quickest fifty ever). Terrible bowling aside; the blast of the final few overs just didn't feel like cricket, which is why I didn't really like it. While Mumbai did bowl sensibly, my mood worsened, probably due to the awful "Deccan Chargers" chant, which followed every boundary, wicket, over, dot ball, drinks break and run (seemingly).
So in the backdrop of the MCC / Durham game in Abu Dhabi, and again with nothing better to do on a wet Monday afternoon, I settled down to watch cricket's most lucrative league; with my team Delhi Daredevils taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders. And I really enjoyed it. Yes, one of my favourite England players was playing, but that didn't seem to matter. There was an exceptional century from David Warner, ably supported by Collingwood, as well as one of the greatest catches I've seen from David "Master Cricket" Hussey. It is with good reason that Alec Stewart called it "probably the greatest catch of the decade".
Being so enamoured with the game, I am already eulogising about it during the innings interval (OK, it's now the start of the KKR innings, but these blogs take some time). So why have I suddenly started to like the IPL again? Maybe it's the fact there is an English player involved, or maybe it's because I am in a better mood today than yesterday. Probably, however, it's because that horrible Deccan Chargers chant isn't on repeat.
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