By Parvathy Gopalakrishnan
The 22 yard strip looks revamped. Oh yes, there’s a temple, trees, a traditional drummer, a kathakali dancer, a beach, a boathouse and elephants. Ok, there might be more elements, but these are the ones that stand out. Amidst these show-stealing visuals, one might not notice the wickets peeping out, crying out loud for attention.
For the benefit of those wondering what is being referred to here, all I can say is that the Kochi Commandos, oops sorry, Kochi Tuskers Kerala have done it again! If they’ve garnered attention because of their absurd choice of names, they should be expecting the name-game snowballing into a huge avalanche, all thanks to their official website!
The homepage is in itself an epic failure. Apart from the gaudy visuals that overshadow the pitch, there are facebook and twitter flags fluttering around, and “book tickets” banners on the virtual Kochi stadium. Shady (literally) spectators waving “fan club” flags, the outfield screaming out names of the sponsors, and their logo flying high somewhere in the sky; all this and more to be ROTFL your AO!
Let’s now conduct a post-mortem of the content. They talk about archaic stuff like “vision and mission”, about the coach, the team and the partners. Dude, who wants to know about all this? And in the slimmest possibility that someone would like to know, why not google instead?
Looks like the team owners are keen to partner with the Kerala Tourism board. There nothing cricket related available on the site, except for a basic information of the squad and fixtures. Explore Kerala, weirdly, finds a place on the site. What’s more, the owners are actually elated that the team name attracted so many eye balls. They’ve lost it, and they’ve made that fact official by coming up with this masterpiece!
And speaking of the name, what a huge impact it had! And from Kochi Commandos to Kochi Tuskers Kerala, there’s not been much improvisation! Seems like the franchisees are of the opinion that men with the leather and willow with bow down in front of the mighty tuskers! Lol! :P
Showing posts with label IPL 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IPL 2011. Show all posts
Friday, 8 April 2011
Thursday, 7 April 2011
IPL 4: A Curtain Raiser
By Parvathy Gopalakrishnan
Its back again. The fourth season of the slam bang version of cricket is all set to get underway tomorrow, the first match being played between Dhoni’s Superstars and Gambhir’s Knight Riders.
It will be interesting to note how the IPL proceeds without the man at the helm, Lalit Modi. The game-changer in the truest sense of the term has now been kept far away from the proceedings. Chirayu Amin, appointed by the BCCI as the new IPL boss, will find it a tad difficult to fit into the boots of the man-who-stole-the-show.
There are a thousand reasons for hurling brickbats at the man, but one cannot help but applaud the fact that he had a vision; a vision that revolutionized the game, and helped cricket wed entertainment. His brainchild also resulted in an amazing display of wealth by all the franchisees and a great platform for cricketers brimming with talent.
One of the most immediate pieces of bad news even before the show begins is that there is a 11%, or $460 million drop in the value of the IPL. However, the franchisees can breathe a sigh of relief because the brand value of six teams, except for Rajasthan Royals, King XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders have seen an upward trend. This fall in the value of these three teams can be attributed to their performance, both on field and beyond the boundary.
Amidst all the hype, hooplah and controversies, two new teams join the big fat family. Sahara Pune Warriors led by Yuvraj Singh, and Kochi Tuskers Kerala led by Mahela Jayawardene will be more than anxious to go all guns blazing in the debut season.
Among the other notable changes, this season will have less number of matches. Spanning over a period of 51 days, this season will have 74 matches, 70 league matches, and four knock-out ones, the battle being fought on 12 grounds.
However, the most obvious change this time around is that there will be no IPL Nights. Yes, you heard it right. It cooked a storm last year, with the Indian players shoving the blame on these parties for their lack-lustre show in the T20 World Cup. Is this a smart move, only time will tell.
With the franchisees’ purses being fatter this time – the cap on each franchisee going up from $ 5 million to $ 9 million – each team had full financial backing to go for the kill, and build a team of their choice. Now that the teams are in place, the viewers are all ready for some whack-it kind of cricket. When it comes to cricket, there can never be an overdose!
Its back again. The fourth season of the slam bang version of cricket is all set to get underway tomorrow, the first match being played between Dhoni’s Superstars and Gambhir’s Knight Riders.
It will be interesting to note how the IPL proceeds without the man at the helm, Lalit Modi. The game-changer in the truest sense of the term has now been kept far away from the proceedings. Chirayu Amin, appointed by the BCCI as the new IPL boss, will find it a tad difficult to fit into the boots of the man-who-stole-the-show.
There are a thousand reasons for hurling brickbats at the man, but one cannot help but applaud the fact that he had a vision; a vision that revolutionized the game, and helped cricket wed entertainment. His brainchild also resulted in an amazing display of wealth by all the franchisees and a great platform for cricketers brimming with talent.
One of the most immediate pieces of bad news even before the show begins is that there is a 11%, or $460 million drop in the value of the IPL. However, the franchisees can breathe a sigh of relief because the brand value of six teams, except for Rajasthan Royals, King XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders have seen an upward trend. This fall in the value of these three teams can be attributed to their performance, both on field and beyond the boundary.
Amidst all the hype, hooplah and controversies, two new teams join the big fat family. Sahara Pune Warriors led by Yuvraj Singh, and Kochi Tuskers Kerala led by Mahela Jayawardene will be more than anxious to go all guns blazing in the debut season.
Among the other notable changes, this season will have less number of matches. Spanning over a period of 51 days, this season will have 74 matches, 70 league matches, and four knock-out ones, the battle being fought on 12 grounds.
However, the most obvious change this time around is that there will be no IPL Nights. Yes, you heard it right. It cooked a storm last year, with the Indian players shoving the blame on these parties for their lack-lustre show in the T20 World Cup. Is this a smart move, only time will tell.
With the franchisees’ purses being fatter this time – the cap on each franchisee going up from $ 5 million to $ 9 million – each team had full financial backing to go for the kill, and build a team of their choice. Now that the teams are in place, the viewers are all ready for some whack-it kind of cricket. When it comes to cricket, there can never be an overdose!
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