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As the Indian Premier League is starting its 2022 season, it is interesting to look at the reasons why so many great cricket players come running. The easy answer is that it is a mix of big money and Bollywood stardom. But there can be no doubt that the IPL is at the very top of its game. Here are other reasons why.
The IPL: A league that continues to grow
The 2022 edition of the IPL promises to be even bigger and better than the ones from the last few years. As restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic slowly ease up, it is safe to say that fans will be eager to get back in stadiums, in order to watch their favourite team play, and hopefully win it all. After all, everybody is in it to win, right? Even fans who like to place wagers on the game and spend time on online casino play for real moneyare expecting nothing less than a championship for their city, this year. But it will be even more difficult, now that the league has added two new teams, more matches and changed the format.
The format of the 10-team competition will change in 2022. It takes its form on the version that was in place, in 2011. Each team will play 14 games in the regular season, to be followed by a four match playoff. Because the restrictions are lighter, people will be able to attend the games, but only in four venues. The home and away games will therefore not take place, this year again. But at least, the joy of being part of the crowd for these match- ups will be back. To those interested, there will be a total of 12 double-headers, so book your tickets now, if one game isn’t sufficient for you to travel to one of the stadiums.
IPL returns from the Gulf Region
The pandemic managed to stop the public from going to see their favourite teams play, over the last two years. Not only so, but it also sent the teams away from the country, to play their games. They found themselves in various Gulf cities, such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. To show their support, the UAE crowd wore the team jerseys, as they were allowed to sit in the stands during the second part of season 14. Now that the IPL is coming home to India, it expects crowds to gather and celebrate this national sport, that it has been missing for over 24 months, already. The rules to be admitted, will be for people to be fully vaccinated, and the stadiums will not hold over 25 percent of the regular seating . Still enough for the crowd to make lots of noise.
A League that stands with the Greatest Ones Around the World
If you have any doubt about the strength of the IPL, you just have to take a look at the underlying numbers, to understand how well it is doing. In fact, we could say that it is literally thriving. Only three leagues in the world are worth more, and they are all in the USA. The most important of them is the NFL (National Football league). Not so surprising, as everybody around the world watches (or has access to) the Super Bowl, every year, held in early February. The current value of the league is $13 billion. It is followed by the baseball league (MLB) at $10 billion and the NBA (basketball) at $7.4 billion. That is where the IPL can be found joining the list, with a worth of over $6.3 billion. That is more than the English Premier League, which comes in next at $5.3 billion.
Cricket: Where Sport meets Entertainment
The other similarity that India and the USA have in common, is their star system. In America, Hollywood is where stars are born, live and grow. In India, the same can be said about Bollywood. While it is quite common for actors and actresses to catch a Lakers game in Los Angeles, it is also very popular for Bollywood stars and executives to spend time at a cricket game. In truth, Indians see both as being intertwined, in many ways. For example, Tiger Pataudi, a cricket star in India, went on to marry a Bollywood actress. And he isn’t the only one to have done so. It is expected that “the beautiful people” will be heading back to the stadiums in 2022, to cheer on their favourite teams , which will create plenty of headlines for the society journalists, again.
IPL: The Original Short Format Cricket
There have been copycats along the way, but let’s not forget that it is the IPL that launched the shortest format of crickets. Cricketers prefer to play in this league for that very reason, as well as for the money that the teams offer their best players . In fact, many South African have decided to join the IPL, instead of the Bangladesh test.
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