Here we are then, another IPL (call it IPL 8 or IPL 2015, your preference) season, which means another month-and-a-half of unlimited "maximums", "humdingers", "thrillers" and more, with off-field drama and glamour – mainly thanks to the large Bollywood contingent who always seem to ensure they grab as much of the spotlight as the players -- and the sometimes ridiculously good on-field theatre.
Only the IPL has the ability to entice, draw in, make you jump around like a "Belieber" and yet make you feel like you have just wasted three hours of your life all in one single match. But, that is the beauty of cricket coupled with entertainment isn't it? And what cannot be denied is IPL cricket is entertaining, even if you are one of those people who scoff at the mere mention of the "Indian Premier League (yup, that is the full form, in case anybody had forgotten).
It has become a staple of Indian cricket now, and love it or hate it, you just cannot ignore it, and even if you try to, multiple channels and every single newspaper in the land will render it impossible.
Into its eighth season, having gone through more drama than all the soaps in the history of Indian television combined, the IPL is still going strong, churning out the adjectives every few seconds and more importantly producing quality cricket and unearthing real talents of the game.
As long as that talent-unearthing continues, IPL will be relevant, and for all we know, thanks to IPL 2015, a KC Cariappa or a Shreyas Iyer will become household names, soon enough strutting around on the field, and off it, and giving the likes of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni a run for their numero uno money.
Or maybe we will see Yuvraj Singh play like Yuvraj Singh again, and get reminded just why Virender Sehwag was the meaning of "joy" in cricket. Maybe Gautam Gambhir will turn that frown upside down, or maybe Zaheer Khan will roll back the years and give us a couple of spells that will make those jaws drop down cartoon style.
If not for those, hopefully we will have Glenn Maxwell continuing to make reverse-sweeps look easier than a forward defence and AB De Villiers give the entire cast of the Avengers a serious inferiority complex. Hopefully, Chris Gayle will swat that white ball for six after six again, while MS Dhoni watches it from behind the stumps with an inward smile and quietly contemplates how that massive chase at the Chinnaswamy will pan out.
Or could it be the season of the bowlers – the Dale Steyns, the Trent Boults, the Mitchell Starcs, the Mohammed Shamis – making that white ball move around like a puppet on a string with that death rattle and the ensuing scream from the commentators ringing time and again.
Whatever it is, here is to a wonderful, can't-say-unforgettable-because-by-the-time-the-next-season-comes-everyone-including-the-players-would-have-forgotten-about-it, eye-catching, slam-banging, tub-thumping, thrill-a-minute IPL 2015.
