Bangalore Out of IPL

It was extremely disappointing, almost annoying to see how Bangalore were committing hara-kiri yesterday.

A target of 130 in 16 overs was not very stiff by any stretch of imagination but the way they grafted and grafted, before letting loose when it was too late, finally confirmed one’s doubt that they never belonged to this format. Luckily for Charu, he was not there to take the blame this time round!

As of now, Dravid’s vanquished warriors will probably need to win all of their remaining six matches to have any hope of reaching the semis. But that will also mean setting some sort of tournament record as no team so far has managed to win that many in a row, though King’s eleven Punjab need one more to accomplish this feat.

To be realistic, Bangalore look completely out of sorts and at the moment, the battle for semifinal looks to have been restricted to seven teams. Mallya can relax and concentrate on Formula one. IPL title is out of reach.
My First IPL Match
Meanwhile, watched my first match as ‘spectator from the stands’, and not as a journo covering a battle. It was between Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings at Ferozshah Kotla yesterday.

What a match and what an ambience! One refreshing change from the past tests and ODIs at Kotla is that the families are coming in such big numbers to watch the 40-over carnival. It has well and truly become a family outing with one seeing some many groups of ‘girls only’, cheering and clapping after every ball.

Reasons:
- Kotla is much cleaner now with functional toilets
- No boring moments mean people have that much less time to pass comments and harass the fellow spectators
- The format reduces the waste of time, allowing executives to pack up their office bags in time for the match. Female executives, so much concerned about their office work, can now do both the jobs on a given day.
- Last but not the least, the music and the cheerleaders, including Bhangra troupes and bands, usher in the festivities never seen before on India’s cricket grounds. Families just love the feel and the colour splashed all around.

The arrangements for the match were impeccable and ladies were feeling much secure coming to these encounters. These are great times for cricket indeed.