Intro to IPL
The IPL, or Indian Premier League (also known as the Tata IPL for sponsorship reasons), is a men’s Twenty20 cricket league held annually in India and contested by ten city-based franchise teams. The league was founded by the Board of Cricket Control in India in 2007.
Love for Sports
Who is not aware of the definition of sports? It, without doubt, means physical games or activities that you do for exercise or because you enjoy them. It has several different forms and types. One of the most popular types or forms of sports, loved and followed by almost 2.5 billion people all around the globe, is ‘CRICKET.’ Wikipedia defines cricket as a game that is played with a bat and ball on a large area of grass by two teams of eleven players.
But cricket is not confined to only these words of the wiki-definition. Because every cricket fan or follower has a quirky definition for cricket, I, myself being a cricket fan, would like to define cricket as a war with one’s own self, a realisation that life can take unexpected turns whenever it wants to, a belief that destiny can be at your side, a feeling of living the victory moment, and something undeniably magically unique (that only a cricket fan can experience and understand).
More Details on Cricket
Cricket has 3 formats: ODI (50-50 over/one-day match), T20 (20-20 over game), and Test Match (5-day game). These 3 formats further have different types and leagues. Talking about the ODI format, the ODI World Cup is the most popular tournament.
For the test format, the Asia Cup is well-liked by the fans. And as far as the T20 league is concerned, the IPL is the most popular and loved league among all the people of the world. Well, who doesn’t know what IPL is? Making use of hyperbole here, even newly born babies know about IPL!
Cricket Fans
On the arrival of spring and departure of winter, not just flowers but the cricket fans, specifically IPL fans’, also blossom with excitement and zeal as T20’s greatest league begins. Conducted every year between the months of March and May, the IPL is the most famous and loved cricket league in the world.
When cricketers, from all over the world, dressed in their teams’ uniforms with an aim in mind to embrace victory, start the game on the ground in their full spirits, a wave of enthusiasm and zeal electrifies the hearts and bodies of the spectators to such an extent that till the end of the match, they keep on shouting out their loved teams’ names with ardour, thereby motivating them and lifting their spirits up.
Hence, spectators also play a vital role in a team’s victory.
10 different city-based teams participate in the IPL, namely:
• Mumbai Indians
• Chennai Super Kings
• Rajasthan Royals
• Royal Challengers Bangalore
• Punjab Kings
• Lucknow Super Giants
• Delhi Capitals
•Gujarat Titans
• Kolkata Night Riders
• Sunrisers Hyderabad
There have been fifteen seasons of the tournament to date. And Mumbai Indians (MI) stand to be the most successful team with five victories registered so far in the tournament.
IPL League Begins
As the league begins, fans prepare to cheer and support their teams by getting T-shirts and caps of their teams, getting tattoos done, designing banners with quotes calligraphically painted on them, composing slogans to shout, and threatening their families not to even think of changing the channel while the IPL is being broadcasted!
IPL is viewed and enjoyed by people of all age groups (children, teenagers, adults, and even oldies). Be it men or women, boys or girls, children or oldies, Australians or Indians, the love for the IPL remains unfaded among all. While some fans celebrate enthralling victories, others grieve over anguishing defeats. Yet they don’t give up supporting their favourite teams.
IPL is like a KURUKSHETRA (war-ground), where no one knows what will transpire. When two enemy teams of 10 soldiers, each led by a disguised captain, meet face-to-face on the battleground with spears like bats and canon balls like cricket balls in their hands, it gives a no-less-than world-war feel.
It would not be incorrect to say that World War 3 could be fought between two groups of IPL fans over the statement: “OUR TEAM IS THE BEST AND WILL TAKE THE TITLE THIS TIME.” Even in reality, school and college students sometimes engage in tiffs and debates over the question: Who will take the title this time?” In fact, if at a home, siblings support different teams, the house takes no time to turn into a RANBHUMI (war-ground) during the game.
For the IPL teams, the league is like climbing Mount Everest! At every point, a fresh and even more difficult challenge awaits. It is impossible to predict with accuracy what will happen next. Nothing final can be said until the last ball. It would be good to mention the example of the MI vs. CSK 2019 finals, where CSK required 2 runs in 1 ball to win.
It was supposed to be an easy win for CSK, but destiny had other plans. All thanks to Malinga’s experience and capabilities, MI won the match by two runs. Though all the matches hold equal importance, the IPL final turns out to be a blockbuster thriller every time. It’s like having Karo-Ya-Maro sit for the players. Every player leaves no stone unturned to win the finals. But, at the end, all lies in the hands of destiny.
If we go deeper, we will find out that IPL preaches equality in diversity. As players from various nations, states, religions, castes, age groups, and so on, they play as one with a single goal in mind: TO DRIVE THEIR TEAMS TO SUCCESS AND CLOSE TO THE CHAMPION’S TITLE. That’s the beauty of IPL. Players play together, irrespective of their differences. IPL demonstrates unequivocally that “NO MEN ARE STRANGE” and “NO COUNTRIES ARE FOREIGN” are true.
Conclusion
Summarising all the facts about the IPL in the form of a short Hindi poem, the least an IPL fan could say is that:
HAI IPL, GAATHA SANGRAM KI
2 BHIDNE WALI TEAMO KE SAMRAJY KI
KISI KE VINAASH KI
TOU KISI KE LIYE BAJE VIJAY SAAZ KI
[ IPL is the story of a massive tackle between two teams of different states.
It is the story about the success music strung in pride of the winners and the sorrowful and heartbreaking moment for the other team. ]
Fifteenth Season of IPL
This is the fifteenth season of the IPL this year. I wish all the IPL teams ALL THE BEST for the season. May the best team wins the title. And may every match be thrillingly exciting, so that the fans have a great time.
OH! IT IS ALREADY 5:30; IPL IS GOING TO BEGIN. HENCE, I END UP WRITING HERE.
By: Prabhgun Kaur
Write and Win: Participate in Creative writing Contest & International Essay Contest and win fabulous prizes.
