The Indian Premier League

As the Indian Premier League is nearing the half way mark some stray thoughts “all of my own”, like Busybee used to say.

· The name given to the Mumbai team “Mumbai Indians” is most unfortunate. Whereas the format involves teams being named after cities, to name a team comprising international player as “Indians” is simply not on. The international players are playing for their respective cities but not for India. I hope this gets rectified the next time round.

· The Harbhajan-Shreesant spat is a blot on the IPL no doubt, especially as one of the objectives of the IPL was to promote the spirit of cricket. This was more of a let down because the whole country stood by Bhajji during the crisis in Australia. I would be more than happy if this was the end of the road for both Harbhajan and Shreesant.

· The other spat, the Warne-Ganguly one, was a milder affair. Yes, Ganguly did pressurize the umpire and deserved to be docked points in the fair play award but not more than that. The umpire was at fault for getting pressurized and it is good to see the umpire being held accountable. The ICC needs to take a leaf from this.

· Farokh Engineer has also come under the scanner for fraternizing with one of the team owners while on duty as match referee. Though he has always had a cavalier attitude he needs to realize that he is wearing a different hat now.

· T20 is more like football than cricket in some ways. There is no room for error and the captain and players have to think all the time. The top four teams are the ones with the best leadership qualities that include tactical and man-management skills. And Mumbai’s revival has more to do with Shaun Pollock replacing Harbhajan Singh as captain than anything else.

· Another aspect that has come to the forefront is that those teams are faring well who are concentrating on cricket and not on publicity.

· We now know why Australia is not faring as well as it was some time back. Shane Warne and Glen McGrath have been the pick of the retired players and have performed much better than the big five of Indian cricket. It is more than evident that there is no room for anyone above the age of 30 in the Indian T20 side.

· One cannot talk about the IPL and leave out the cheerleaders. Personally I do not think cheerleaders have anything to contribute to the contest. They are inconsequential. However to try and get rid of them on puritan grounds is absurd. When will our elected representatives grow up?

· My favorite for the trophy are the current leaders – the Rajasthan Royals.