Random Post 2

 Random Post 2 - IPL 

If you read my first random post, then you can probably guess what I will be writing about: cricket. However, I will be more specifically talking about the Indian Premier League (IPL), mainly because the season started just a week ago, and so for the next two months I will have the chance to watch a cricket game (at 7am though). If you don't already know the IPL, think of the NBA or EPL for cricket. Unlike traditional cricket formats where you are representing your national teams or state teams, the IPL consists of franchises representing various cities in India. Similar to the NBA/EPL, IPL teams are owned by a mix of big corporations, celebrities, business tycoons, which adds a certain glamour to the league. Moreover, the league doesn't just consist of Indian players, the league features a mix of the best international players as well. However, there is a limit of 4 international players that can be featured per team out of a total of 11 players as part of a team. But my favorite part of the team structure is that 1 uncapped player has to be a part of the team. By uncapped I mean a player who is yet to play international cricket for India. This thus provides a platform for domestic players to showcase their talents alongside international stars, fostering a high level of competition and learning. 

Here is a fan reacting to their team losing. Yes, the emotional stakes are this high. 

The 10 IPL captains posing with the trophy. 

The team (Chennai Super Kings) who scored 10 runs off 2 balls celebrating winning the IPL.

What personally makes the IPL a stand-out experience for me is its uncanny ability to transform cricket into an electrifying spectacle of entertainment and nail-biting finishes. Almos each game in the IPL feels like a rollercoaster of emotions, where the outcome is often uncertain until the very last ball. For example, the last IPL Final game, the batting team needed 10 runs off 2 balls, which if I could translate in Baseball terms is saying, the batting team needed 2 homeruns off 2 pitches. While possible, you would be backing the bowling/pitching team, right? But the IPL being the IPL the batting team somehow won, so just when you thought the game was too far gone, yet another twist presented itself. The aforementioned is just an example of the countless evenings on the edge of my seat, heart racing, as my favorite teams and players battle it out. The only thing that sucks is that the match is being played in India from 7-11pm local time, so that means the matches are early in the morning for those of us in the US, specifically PST. And so, for the past week, the first thing I do when I wake up is check the IPL score if not put on the game to watch it live. 

My team - the Punjab Kings celebrating getting a Batsman out. 

While there are a total of 10 teams in IPL, only 4 qualify for the play-offs and they are pitted against each other in a sudden death format. My team is the Punjab Kings since I am originally from Punjab, India. I take great pride in being a Punjab Kings fan because we've never won the IPL, only qualified twice in IPL's 16-year history (the last time was 10 years ago), reached the final once (which we lost despite being the strongest team all season). So, no one can ever accuse me of being a bandwagon fan. We've got a strong team this season and while I'm hoping we reach the final, seeing what I have so far in the games played so far, we've somehow found unique ways to lose games that we should very easily win. But will I continue supporting Punjab? You bet I will. Will it lead to countless days of being sad, depressed, essentially going through all the stages of grief each time we lose? Yes, it will, but like every sports fan, I am hopeful that this year will be different. It reminds me of the quote "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." But the credibility of the person who said it is pretty questionable, I'm sure he doesn't know what he's talking about. In case you were wondering it was Albert Einstein.