IPL season 2 has started and I wouldn't agree with someone who says it is not as exciting as last year. Spare the rains that have played spoil sport to some extent the rest of the drama has been really enthralling.
Rajasthan Royals exhibited a fantastic example of complacency in their first game while both the underdogs Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers have come out with a bang. Unlike last year the tracks in SA are offering some assistance to bowlers. This is precisely why Royal Challengers were able to defend a modest total of 133. With difficult batting conditions and the prevailing form of players like Sachin, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Gibbs, McCullum etc. the stage is set for a high voltage tournament.
However, the newly introduced seven and a half minute strategy break is nothing but a unwarranted interruption in excitement. Keeping aside the teams' comments on the break it is also drawing flak from the pundits of cricket. It is true that the commercial aspect of the game cannot be neglected but forcing viewers to watch ads does not really go down well. The typical reaction at the 10 over mark is 'Damn it... a break of seven and a half minutes'. The so called strategy is not made public so what is the viewer gaining out of it? In addition having breaks of equal duration in rain curtailed games is just not logical. You'd rather want the players to play a couple of overs more than watch the ads.
Anyway, hopefully the organizers take cognizance of this and make whatever possible changes to address the problem. Given the fact that the whole IPL was in doldrums with the announcement of elections in India, the organizers have put up a good show. (They didn't have any option but to do it... otherwise it would have added to the ongoing economic crisis. :))
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