One of the most coveted tournaments in Cricket is coming back to India. The seventh season of IPL started on 16 April 2014 with 8 teams competing with each other. The first 20 Matches were held in 3 magnificent venues in UAE. No one could have written a better script for this tournament which has seen excellent batting, bowling, fielding and more. Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) leads the pack with 5 consecutive wins, courtesy of some brilliant hitting by Maxwell and Miller. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are in a close 2nd with 4 wins in 5 matches. CSK has seen good performances from various players so far. Rajasthan Royals (RR) have also played some decent cricket and their one down batsman Sanju Sampson is trending all over because of his batting abilities. He has surely been a revelation but he has to find a way to convert his moderate starts to good scores if he needs to be a part of the Indian National Cricket squad. Mumbai Indians (MI) have been the worst with 5 consecutive losses and they'd want to turn their fortunes around.
Crowd Reception
The stadiums have been jam packed in almost all of the matches held in UAE. It looked as if the matches were held in India. The teams were named after popular cities to get the local crowd support in India but the crowd reception is Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi has been amazing. Expatriates from Kerala top the list and most of them have supported Rajasthan Royals as the 19 year old Keralite Sanju Sampson plays for RR. There was good support for other teams too, especially CSK and KXIP. We have seen people of all ages in abundance thronging the matches.
Glitz & Glamour
IPL is never short of glamour and this season is no exception with many team owners being celebrities themselves. Preity Zinta was seen in all the matches that KXIP played. Her mood directly reflected the stance of KXIP on the field and she was happy most of the times for obvious reasons. The King of Bollywood, Shahrukh Khan and Shilpa Shetty were also seen supporting their teams KKR & RR respectively. The TV hosts were no less than the celebrity team owners. Shibani and Archana added to the glamour and their moderate cricket knowledge did not hinder their anchor abilities. Sameer with his professional dressing & confident attitude, Gaurav with his witty jokes were meticulous in their job.
Back to India
The remaining 40 matches will be played in India and the first of them is between CSK and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on 2 May 2014. KKR badly needs a win and their last match with RR that ended in a tie would have been really frustrating for their players and fans alike. It is very early to say who will top the table post the league matches but KXIP and CSK look good to make it to the top 4. My next bet would be on KKR and RR to compete in the knock-out stage. You never know how things could change in cricket. I hope my favorite team CSK does well in India too.
