A Scratchy Start

Yes, the third edition of the IPL is here. The opening game was bit of a scratch scratch affair. None of the batsmen except for Angelo Mathews and O A Shah seem to be middling the ball.
Chasing 162 should have been a stroll in the partk for the Deccan Chargers. They started off well with a lot of luck. The KKR fielders appeared to be a bunch of novices when it came to catching. Had all the catches been held, the Chargers might have struggled to cross 100.
It was good to see the old war horses Laxman and Gilchrist at the top of the order. But it was rather disappointing to see Laxman abandon his own sublime poetic style of batting and attempt to emulate Viv Richards by trying to belt the ball out of the ground. All he needed to do was to keep a cool head, nudge the ball around, take singles and time the odd bad ball to the fense. He could easily have made a run a ball 60 or 70 and given the Chargers a better chance of getting to the target.
Garry Sobers was asked on the sidelines whether he would have change his style of batting if he were to play T20 cricket and his reply was a simple "No". To do well in the format, one needs to stick to one's own natural style.
Rohit Sharma is a huge bundle of talent, but then he is also a master at throwing his wicket away. If he does not learn the art of putting his head down and delivering at the crease, he could very soon be out of the reckoning and that would be a shame.
T20 is not about putting every ball across the ropes, neither is it about scoring at a hectic pace right from ball one. It is about keeping the score board ticking, keeping a cool head and building partnerships.

Another observation is that the TV commentators very often did not appear to know the names of the players who were bowling or fielding, specially when it came to Indian players. Besides it would have been interesting if the commentators could from time to time give the viewers a little background on each of the players.

I have nothing against Hindi commentary, but then please don't burden the viewers/listeners with substandard talent. Someone might have been a great cricketer in his time, but if he cannot speak straight and does not know enough about the game, he should not be forced upon the cricket loving public.

IPL has become an annual event that every Indian looks forward to. It is rather sad that Lalit Modi and gang have totally ignored the millions of blind cricket lovers who would also have liked to follow the action on good old Radio.