IPL 2020: After a fling, I am now into the swing of things

Dubai - T20 came along in 2007 and changed the way the game is played.

I loved cricket in my youth but I confess my heart was never in it. I flirted with the game (and the ball outside the off-stump) yet never consummated the relationship. That was until the first Indian Premier League in 2008. What began as a fling soon became fun.
In my playing days I failed to flower as a middle-order bat and an all-rounder. My poor eyesight ensured I couldn't spot the ball early. The result was the shattering of the stumps in quick succession, match after match, and some bodily harm from the cherry that left me yelping in pain. Sidelined, I was licking my sporting wounds while warming the bench. My reflexes were great but my vision gave up on me on the pitch and I chose to be a spectator, one among the millions, critical to a fault, an arm-chair expert of sorts with no skin in the game.
T20 came along in 2007 and changed the way the game is played. Cricket is now richer and there's new dynamism on the field. It has opened doors to players on the sidelines who deserve a break in the big league.
Meanwhile, my heartless cricket writing was doing me no favours. Now, the crunched up T20 avatar has revived my interest in a sport I had fallen out of love with. You see, I like a good slog and some lusty hitting. T20 fits the bill and I am back in the game with some interest thrown in.
The players don't matter, the entertainment quotient keeps me riveted to the screen at times, and I don't have to wait the whole day for a result. Stadiums have opened into living rooms across the world. Everyone who is a someone can be an expert and I am unafraid to stand out like a sore thumb in the crowd. I have never pretended to know it all and have had my share of run-ins with infatuated fans on school and college WhatsApp groups.
The IPL has upped my voyeuristic skills in cricket while I play pretence as players run between the wickets. I hit and make a run for it after a nasty comment or two about a player or team and there's pandemonium (in WhatsApp groups of course!). School friends chastise me for being "unfaithful to the sport". I reply, "enjoy the game, ditch the emotion". Loyalty is for losers in love. - allan@khaleejtimes.com

• IPL 2019