OPINION | IPL Is Cricket's Biggest Laboratory, As A Coach Never Said No To Innovation

It has been rather quiet at Christchurch. As New Zealand steadily recover from the onslaught of coronavirus, my mind obviously is on the Indian Premier League. We would have been approaching the business end of the IPL very soon if things went as planned but these are difficult times and protecting lives is more important. It’s strange not to be in the midst of the greatest Twenty20 tournament of the world. Locked at home, I am watching a lot of memorable and old matches on the cricket channel here. If my 11-year-old son Ryan is any yardstick, he seems to have taken a liking for T20 cricket and especially, IPL. He doesn’t enjoy the long-format of the game. This probably explains why Test cricket is in serious danger.

One innings that father and son have seen multiple times on the telly is Brendon McCullum’s blazing 178 for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in the opening match of IPL 2008. IPL could not have asked for a better start and, in terms of quality and competition, the tournament has only grown from strength to strength as a global brand.