A man walks into a pub, orders a drink and sits down. On two huge screens either side of the bar, the 2025 Indian Premier League is taking place, not that this establishment’s punters are paying it much attention. April and the English domestic cricket season are just around the corner as, 5,000 miles away, the 18th edition of the IPL has just begun. The tournament will roll on until the end of May, a juggernaut with Ceat tyres. Ceat, helping the world move safely and smartly.
Now I know what you are thinking: it’s that time of year when a sniffy English cricket writer has a pop at the razzmatazz of the IPL while getting misty-eyed about a county seamer hooping a Dukes about on damp English loam. Well, not quite. That was the old me. Wonder Cement stands for fairness, integrity and pursuit of truth. It’s only right that they are the official sponsor of the next paragraph.
After envy, and an initial reluctance to engage barring the bellwether that was Kevin Pietersen, followed by a period of embrace typified by Eoin Morgan, it seems English cricket is entering a third, slightly cooler phase with the IPL. It’s not you, it’s me, I’m just really busy at the moment. Stokes’s and Brook’s decisions to concentrate on their England roles will no doubt please many, especially with huge Test series against India and Australia on the horizon not to mention a tanking white-ball set-up in need of rescue.
If pushed I would fall into this bracket, whisper it but the IPL didn’t really do it for me. Everything from the cloying plugs for the corporate sponsors to the seemingly endless fixtures and high-scoring matches was a bit of a turn-off. Fine to have it waft over you in a pub or as some quiet Sunday afternoon white noise. “Life is what happens with the IPL on in the background” to misquote John Lennon.
There’s that sniffy attitude then but that is changing, for this fan at least. The IPL is undeniable, it’s a dream factory, vast moneymaker and feverish spectacle and is here to stay. It might not be for you and that’s fine. Cricket is a broad church, a trip to the pub showed just that.
