Tough Choice

I saw an IPL match on Sunday. The Mohali stadium was abuzz with roaring music. The atmosphere was superb. I thought I was sitting amongst Punjab fans. To my surprise they cheered with equal zeal for Pune. The sole purpose of the crowd was to come on TV! I followed their league and waved the Punjab flag when Yuvraj hit a four. And well, I wore a new top as well.
Ha!

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We were watching KKR vs Mumbai Indians match right now. I'm a Tendulkar fan and so I was supporting the Mumbai team. Suddenly I saw Brett Lee and Gautam Gambhir. They both are immensely cute. I think my favorite team is KKR!!

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Chris Gayle did an awesome job yesterday. RCB has been doing well so far and so, supporting them can mean supporting a winning team. Then again, I like Dhoni and somehow Chennai's yellow outfit looks extremely attractive... tough choice there.

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I don't care much about Hyderabad and Delhi. And I think I am forgetting one last team.  Really, it's been what- 6 years? and I still have no clue whom to support!! I'll stick to the cute guys in KKR for now!

Do you have strong reasons like me for supporting a particular team?!

Life in the times of IPL

Come IPL and the women start howling. No matter how much we adore the Sachins and Dhonis of the world, it is impossible to tolerate 2 months of continuous cricket. The men tend to be confused as to which team they support. As a result, they watch each and every match. Even if they don't watch, they pretend to be interested! The women have to live with it. You can’t sit in a different room while the television blares out taetaetaetaetae te tain!

Anyway,to survive the trauma here is the list of things that deviated my mind when I didn’t care who went to the play-off’s (not necessarily in the order of their occurrence). Surprisingly enough, most of this 'meaningful' stuff involved women - 

-          Mamata didi dancing on the streets of Kolkota and spending a bomb on celebrations.

-          Zohal Hameed setting a wrong example(!) as a ‘Future Wife’

-          The ugly Poonam Pandey baring it all for KKR

-          Suhana Khan and friends being pulled out by over-enthusiastic daddy a.k.a. KKR owner

-          Some sexy cheer leaders (read: white mischief), some ugly costumes (read: Pune Warriors), The Ambani Glow, The Preity dimples and The Juhi grins...

      I noticed all this more than Gambhir’s cuteness, Virat’s future-captain’able decisions and well, the points table. I read about rave parties, Shahrukh’s ban from Wankhede and the betting scandals. I loathed an over-enthusiastic commentator who would jump at every ball but I loved the look on Gambhir’s face when this commentator moved his palm across his neck in one of the interviews! I noticed how every match ‘accidently’ had a thrilling finish and felt proud to guess who ‘fixed’ whom. It’s not their fault. Afterall, who will watch for two straight months if the game is not invigorating!

IPL has made cricket a fun ride and has certainly drifted it away from the Gentleman’s game status. When the men tally the scores, the women can look for glamour and gossip. And that’s why, I didn’t mind this long season of bat and ball. Sounds utterly distasteful, I know, but at least I’ve found a way to sit in the same room as the Boy when he’s glued to the television screen. You see, this is the kind of stuff that saves marriages! And you see, this is the kind of stuff that goes into "A Wife's Ultimate Guide to Survive IPL".  Needless to say, with all the tamaasha surrounding it, I can't wait for IPL Season 6. 

Loyalty Divided!

I watch cricket as much as an average Indian girl (yeah, I still hate the game when I get less attention that 11 men running after the 'ball'!!!) And like a patriotic Indian, I support my team even when they are not doing well (also, I know very little about other teams, just like an average Indian female cricket fan...phew!)

So come tomorrow, I'm in a confused state of mind. Should I support Bangalore that features my teenage heart throb Rahul dravid, has a better advertisement for their team (!!!), has Katrina Kaif and Vijay Mallaya cheering for them or should I support Dhoni who's done pretty well for our team in the past few months?

Or, for that matter, should i support the Hyderabad team thats supposedly very strong and has good chances of winning (remember, I just HATE to lose?!). I'll leave out the Jaipur team for they don't look interesting and anyway, a desert is not my type of destination as well!!I'll leave out Delhi as well and I really have no reason which makes it mediocre and I have no time supporting mediocrity!

Mumbai and Kolkata team looks very glamorous with Hrithik and Shahrukh boogieing for them respectively! Plus they have the likes of Sachin and Ganguly who have been in and out but are the strength of our team anyway.

Hmm, last but not the least is the team of Punjabis with Preity Zinta backing it up. Now I have three reasons to support it - One, my surname is Punjabi and soon it will also mean that I am actually a Punjabi! Two, its supported by the only female behind the IPL. Plus it has Yuvraj Singh and I really like the way he plays. Now those are three very, very strong reasons!

Ah, I hope this tournament is really good and doesnt do any harm to our 'secular' nation. Cricket unites us, and here it might just do the opposite. Apparently IPL says these are "Eight teams, without any players, only warriors" and the ad (I love the ad with the song) says its a Karmayudh. Just hope that every Indian takes it in that spirit and enjoys it 'ball by ball'!!!

Also, lets hope everyone picks their favorite team just the way I did. That way, we'll actually enjoy the series in the spirit its meant to be!

So Kings XI...Chak de phatte!!!