KEY POINTS:
There's only so much "that's a HUUUGE six!" you can take.UNLESS YOU are a five-star devotee of the Indian Premier League, it may have escaped your notice that the inaugural slam-bang show reaches its finale this weekend.
Be honest now, hands up all those who stayed glued to
their screens in the early hours once New Zealand's test quintet headed to England early in May? Didn't think so.
Watching a pile of largely unknown Indians and a handful of Sri Lankans, Pakistanis and ageing South Africans doesn't really cut it on a night-after-night basis.
Early today Virendar Sehwag's Delhi played the top qualifiers, the Rajasthan Royals (orchestrated by S. K. Warne), in the first semifinal. The second tomorrow puts Chennai Super Kings (including Stephen Fleming) against the Kings Punjab XI, led by Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh before the final at the grandly named Dr D. Y. Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai. As Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai didn't make the last four, the crowds might be interesting.
An early assessment? Take the happy pills off the commentators for a start. There's only so much "that's a HUUUGE six!" you can take.
Some of the batting has been terrific - Brendon McCullum's opening night century and Sehwag more often than not for starters - some wretched (step forward two of India's biggest names, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly). The bowlers are up for a hiding every night.
But when you start yawning as sixes pile upon more sixes, and remembering this is only the inaugural competition with much more to come, you start to think small doses will do just nicely thank you.
And it was pleasing to see the Kolkata Knight Riders miss the semifinals. There's no need for another dose of their preening Bollywood star owner Shahrukh Khan primping himself for a further bout of arm waving to gee up the faithful at Eden Gardens. (The showboating Khan's latest gig, by the way, is compering India's version of Are you smarter than a 5th grader? )
But unquestionably the crowds have flocked and loved it. There is no more impassioned place for watching cricket than India.
So how much more Twenty20 are we in for? Hang on to your hats folks. According to I. S. Bindra, one of the IPL's big wigs, the fun is only just beginning.
He has mooted a grand Twenty20 plan, which will have a network of similar franchise-based teams in competitions across the globe, culminating in a Champion's League football-style showdown.
Which means the International Cricket Council will again go in search of a window between test and ODI commitments for this. If they can't, one day we'll all fondly recall the good old days when only five leading players missed the start of one of New Zealand's big test tours.
