I didn't take much notice of the first two seasons of the IPL. Being a traditionalist, T20 cricket is not my favourite form of the game. If it was a woman it would be Cheryl Cole - good to look at, exciting even but without much substance and something you would tire of quite quickly. Whereas test cricket is more like Scarlett Johansson. Beautiful too but with depth and mysterious, unpredictable and always fascinating.
But the odd night with Cheryl is not something to be sniffed at and having enjoyed Trinidad and Tobago's progress in the inaugural Champions League, I have decided that I will tune into ITV4 for some of the third instalment of the tournament. But, T&T are obviously not one of the eight teams participating, so who should I support as a non-Indian?
Well if I was a Manchester United fan, I could go down the glory supporter route and simply pick the reigning champions, the Deccan Chargers. But as I regard United and its manager Alex Ferguson as the antichrist that's a non-starter.
Likewise, I also have to rule out the Rajasthan Royals due to the recent 'worldwide franchise' press conference replete with hideous PowerPoint presentations. This is the sort of arrogant move reminiscent of Chelsea. It's a shame in some respects as I could easily follow a side captained and coached by Shane Warne. He may be happy to punt anything nowadays including pants, but the sense of theatre he creates when he bowls is something special. But I hate PowerPoint presentations...
So, what about going down the name route? Unfortunately, most of these are pretty good with the Kolkata Knight Riders in particular standing out. However, this route does enable me to rule out the two worst names of the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians. The former sounds like a pack of cigarettes and the last lacks imagination.
Four down, four left to choose from. Having no particular affinity to any city or region in India means that the final decider will come down to the player roster at each of the remaining sides. The Bangalore Royal Challengers have Dravid, KP, Eoin Morgan and Prince Kumble but also have Boucher and Kallis. Delhi Daredevils have the God that is Sehwag plus his apprentice Dilshan, Paul Collingwood and Dirk Nannes, but also have Andrew McDonald. Kings XI Punjab are captained appropriately by King Kumar, which is nearly a reason in itself. And Kolkata Knight Riders have Chris Gayle.
Deities overcome mere mortals anytime, so for me it's a straight choice between Delhi Daredevils and Sehwag, and Kings XI Punjab and King Kumar. And Delhi shade it for me with their plethora of opening batsmen (Viru, Gambhir, Warner and Dilshan - wow!), the last gunslinger in town in Nannes and my favourite England player Colly.
So Delhi Daredevils it is for me then. I cannot see it becoming a big love like that I have for Liverpool, England and Sussex or even Scarlet Johansson, but a few nights with Cheryl could be good fun. In three days time, I'll find out.

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