A wishlist for IPL 2021: The Sporting Life by Rudraneil Sengupta

With no skin in the game, I watch without worrying about who’s winning. Here’s what I'm looking forward to most.

Here’s a short list of things I’m looking forward to at the Indian Premier League, which begins on April 9. These are all non-partisan. Unlike my masochistic loyalty to two football teams — East Bengal and Arsenal — I’m spared the roller-coaster of emotions that comes with IPL-franchise fandom. This frees me up to enjoy the games without worrying about who’s winning or losing.

So, in no particular order, here’s what I’m looking forward to most:

Hardik Pandya’s batting. The man has such a fluid, whip-like action and, of course, utter disregard for who is bowling or what kind of bowling he’s facing. He’ll leap on top of a Jofra Archer short ball and swivel out a pull with a smile on his face (or at least try to). After a back injury that required complicated surgical intervention and a long layoff, Pandya has been slowly building up to his full, explosive potential.

Suryakumar Yadav or SKY. What can this man not do? He had to wait a long time to make his India debut, but the 30-year-old seems made of gunpowder and RDX. He did not get a chance to bat on his debut, but in the next match, he launched his international career with a six.

Pandya and SKY are of course just two of the long line of extremely powerful batsmen who make up the Mumbai Indians team. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan are others. But can some team please stand up to the might of the galacticos from Mumbai? Push this unbeatable-seeming side to its limits at least? How about Hyderabad, with its arsenal of David Warne, Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan and Kane Williamson, and a T Natarajan nailing yorkers?

Rishabh Pant on the field, doing whatever. Hitting the ball out of the park while falling over backwards and trying to guide the shot with one hand to get the maximum arc. Flubbing a take behind the wicket and smiling sheepishly before breaking into a song. Broadcasters, please keep your stump mics dialled up when he’s keeping. I wish there were a whole separate segment called Pant Mic.

Utterly mind-bending fielding stunts. The last season gave us Nicholas Pooran flying through the air and twisting like Simone Biles while keeping his eye on the rope and managing to thwack a certain six back over the line. And Ravindra Jadeja flying, parallel to the ground, getting his hand to a catch and releasing it mid-air for Faf du Plessis to complete the catch while he slammed down on the boundary. There’s no better place to watch flying men protect the boundary than the IPL.

A women’s IPL. That’s wishful thinking. It’s not happening. It really should. It boggles the mind that India does not have a proper T20 league for women. There’s really nothing to justify it.