Whistle Podu Machchi!!!!

Let me start with a few confessions. I love the IPL. And if it makes you think I am some kind of downmarket chump who actually loves let alone tolerate or hate it, so be it. Secondly, let this not be mistaken for my lack of affection for the more serious business of Cricket viz. Tests, ODIs etc. My love for IPL is more primitive, less nuanced and more fun. After all as I often say, IPL is the mother of all Govinda films, rivals the best that Bollywood can throw at you! IPL is a microcosm of India where we celebrate all our differences and yet respect that impossible to explain but easy to experience thing called the 'Idea of India'. Lemme illustrate. When was the last time you took potshots at the saand buddhis of Delhi and the aiyyo aiyyo madrasis without feeling pangs of guilt or having the law book thrown at you? At the IPL of course! Imagine a politico trying to do it and poof! would go his/her right to contest an election ever again!  When did you ever claim rights over a dude who is now more Tamizh than you and me and hoot down any Jharkhandi from Ranchi who claims to the contrary? Thala Da! Unity in diversity as they have been calling it since my school debate days. And to take it to a higher universal level, Gaylestorm is a Bangalore phenomenon, Malinga is a Mumbaikar and it is Amaar Shonar Shakib! Our forefathers had a right phrase for this too, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam!

Thala n Chinna Thala

Saar!

On the field, my loyalties lie strictly in line with my highest sense of parochialism! As a true blue Tamizhan and part of the knowledgeable Chepauk Crowd my loyalties lie with the Chennai Super Kings. Just look at our line up! Thala, Chinna Thala, Saar, Ash 'Win'nu, The Enthusiast, Srini Mama!!! The team to beat as always! Unlike the Gayle Gangnam style which is now routine, our Bravo gigs a new step after every catch or wicket. With such a line up at our disposal, most of us CSKians spend the first half of the tournament trying to find out who meets us in the finals. Post the victory we take to the Social Media like a swarm of bees to sting the opposition to their knees. Should we lose the final, we take to the Social Media like a swarm of bees and trend  "2 IPLs, 1 CL, 4 finals, Playoff everytime! #WhistlePodu" till the next IPL. (In between every time the Indian team struggles, we console ourselves with "What a flop! It all now boils down to CSKvsAus or CSKvsEng" etc)

'WIN'nu!!!

One departure from the above routine perfected over the last million years at CSK is the absence of some of the usual suspects in its lineup this season. No longer can I tweet "Murali Vijay out for a 0. Auspicious beginning for CSK!". No longer can I post "Why fear when Badri is here!" after the fall of two quick wickets. I will also miss the presence of our Enthusiast No 1 at the dugout and I suspect Sakshi Bhabhi at the stands. And to confess I am not liking it one bit....................

:((((((

Put Whistle Ma!

Whatever said and done, Chalo Bulava aaya hai! Whistle Podu Machchi!!!!

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PS: Never write a book again Mr.Cricket!!!

Glossary:

Saand Buddhi : Bull headed.

Vasudaiva Kutumbakam : World is a family