Bring it on: IPL 20-20!

Bring it on: IPL 20-20!


Bula Sports fans! Being on leave from work these past two weeks I've had the opportunity, thanks to Sky Pacific, to catch up on some major international sports events and take my mind off Fiji's IRB 7s rugby woes.

Mid-week I watched Liverpool versus Arsenal live in the 2nd round of the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League played at the Kop, Liverpool's home ground fortress. What a classic game that was between two world class club sides. Liverpool displayed their typical fighting spirit all the way through to late in the 2nd half where they snatched victory at the bell 4 - 2 to advance to a semi-final against Chelsea. Man U also made it through to the semi-finals although I completely missed that game.

Despite the loss of the gunners, the fact that the English Premier League still has 3 of 4 teams in the semi finals of the UEFA Champions League for 2008 speaks volumes about the current quality of English Club football. Contrast this to here in Fiji where there are regular calls to ban foreign players from the IDC and other local football competitions.

I also caught a snitch of the 2008 NCAA basketball championship final where with only 2 seconds to the final buzzer, Mario Chalmers sank a 3-point jump shot from the top of the key to force overtime and eventually the win for his Kansas Jayhawks over Memphis. Contrast this US College basketball game televised live to millions of viewers around the world with the Fiji versus Wellington women's basketball game at the National Gym having to be called off before halftime last Friday evening because of a power failure.

Which brings me to a tribal ritual every Friday and Saturday evenings during the Super 14 (S14) season at my home where everyone runs for cover as my 68-year-old mother, usually accompanied by her partner in crime, my dear older mother-in-law, totally hog the remote control and the best seats in my house to watch all the S14 rugby action; in the process hurling abuse at all the South African teams while cheering on any player who looks remotely like Jo Rokocoko!

It's tough, but my MBHS-red fire-son and I have learned to keep our heads down, survive their verbal threats and occasional violent outbursts directed at the TV without having to call Shaista and lodge a human rights complaint!

Starting last Friday morning, I've watched live coverage of the 2008 US Masters from Augusta, Georgia in what must surely be the most beautiful televised presentation of any sporting event in the world.

I recommend that all budding Fiji television sports producers, cameraman and commentators watch the Augusta coverage for the sheer beauty of the camera work, the total professionalism of the presentation and the expert commentary.

As I write this on Sunday morning before brunch, Tiger, Tiger is stalking, moving quickly from -1 after two rounds on Saturday to -3 through the first 10 holes! As William Blake so eloquently word-smithed it over a century ago: "What immortal hand or eye framed thy fearful symmetry?"

If you read this piece early enough on Monday morning, you can catch Tiger stalking the four golfers ahead of him in the final round of the 2008 US Masters, one of the world's greatest sporting events, up until about midday. For my money, Brandt Snedeker of Nashville, Tennessee has got his country rhythm going and looks to be the pro to beat. Run Brandt run!

But the sporting event that has really caught my imagination is the Indian Premier League Twenty-20 Cricket competition set to start this coming Friday, May 18, in India.

Sneering cricket purists call it "hit and giggle", but "Twenty-20", a new 3-hour version of the gentlemen's game is serious business.

Modelled on England's football league, it will involve eight teams based in big cities around India (the world's biggest cricket market), privately owned by high-profile individuals such as billionaire industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya and Bollywood film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta.

Reliance Industries owner, Mukesh Ambani, successfully bid US$112 million (F$166m) for the Mumbai team while Kingfisher beer baron, Vijay Mallya, paid US$111 million (F$165m) for the Bangalore team.

Bollywood super star "SRK" joined hands with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta to put down US$75 million (F$111m) for the Kolkata team.

Not to be outdone, fellow Bollywood starlet, Preity Zinta and her boyfriend, Ness Wadia, won the bidding for the Mohali-based team paying US$76 million (F$112m).

The other 4 teams, based in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Jaipur were bought for US$84 million (F$125m), US$91 million (F$135m), US$107 million (F$159m) and US$67 million (F $99m) respectively by individual companies and mergers, one including Australia's Lachlan Murdoch.

The IPL has already contracted the top 80 players from all over the cricket-playing world for 59 matches over 44 days in this their first season, including Shane Warne for US$1 million (F$1.4m), his spin twin Muttiah Muralitharan for US$250,000 (F$372,000) and fellow Sri Lankan batting star Sanath Jayasuriya for US$250,000 (F$372,000) to give you an idea of the huge kudos being handed out.

Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar and Aussie all-rounder, Andrew Symonds are also expected to earn in excess of US$1 million (F$1.4m) for 44 days of playing the game that they love in India starting next week.

Adding to the huge stockpile of cash generated by the IPL, Sony broadcaster Sony Max and sports rights company World Sport Group, jointly paid US$1 billion (F$1.4b) for shared rights to the league for the first 10 years. This arrangement gives World Sports Group the global media rights for internet, mobile and radio, with Sony Max bagging the South Asian TV rights to the competition.

Why such huge numbers? Well as the accountants would say, "It's a numbers game dummy"!

Cricket, which started on a small village green in England, is now the single shared passion of over a billion people in India and another 350 million fans across South Asia. Games between India and Pakistan draw in excess of 400 million television viewers in India alone.

This cricket fan in Fiji, 1:1.3 billion, can't wait for the umpire to signal "play" in the IPL in India come this Friday.

GO JAIPUR GO!

source-http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=86354