Can we watch some cricket, please?

If you haven't been living under a rock for the last week, then you would have realised that the IPL has indeed started. And it has started with a bang! If chasing 200 seemed a realistic feat after Rajasthan's effort against Mumbai, then Bangalore ended the debate after their emphatic eight-wicket win against Punjab, where they chased more than 200 runs with relative ease. At the same time, we've seen strong batting sides struggle a bit chasing a modest total (Delhi's win against Punjab) and we've seen that a score of 160-odd can seem very imposing if you get your bowling basics right (Chennai's victory over Kolkata).

Great cricket so far! Pity can see only half of it on the TV, though. Sure, there's a lot of money involved in the IPL - I get that, but I fear how long my eyes and ear can bear this torture of over-advertising. The previous two seasons brought up the unwanted innovations of ‘DLF Maximum’ and ‘Citi Moment of Success’, but the new concept of advertising which I am about to mention is one that is really a slap on all our faces.

You know that little time period when the bowler is going back to his mark to start the next ball - yes, those little 2-3 seconds, well they're too short to cut for commercial, right? Yup. And thank god for that. However, what our broadcasters are doing is that they are showing advertisements on the big screen in the ground, so that when the bowler is going back to his run-up the camera can quickly zoom-in on the big screen and show us an advertisement from within the ground straight to our TV!

May seem ingenious to some, but I seriously feel like throwing the remote at my TV screen every single time this happens. I mean, are you serious? How about focusing on the captain for a second? Or on a discussion that the players may be having? Sure we can't hear what they're saying, but you get a sense of the tension level. Or how about just focusing on the bowler? Seeing him concentrate as he goes back to the mark. All this is a part of cricket, not something which can so easily be ignored, but alas, it is.

I love cricket. I love every format of cricket. Always have and always will. I will continue to support it even when or if others say it is dying. It has never been dying and will never die for me. But please, at least let me watch it properly!