Tough love

It's not been a bad IPL so far. There have been some outstanding individual and collective performances, but this year's edition requires patience and optimism to keep punters interested.

Let's get one thing straight - we like t20. We accept it for what it is and embrace that. Indeed, it's the way some of us got into playing cricket in the evening village leagues around and about, getting our little off-breaks heaved into the field next door by a burly farmer with a deep-seated hatred of young lads who thought they could bowl a bit. But despite that, we still have a fondness for the shortest form of the game here a Morkels Acres. What we most certainly are not is jealous and neither is what follows (whatever thay may be - it's not been written yet) is not written with green eyes.

There have been some really quite spectacular games in this IPL already. Bangalore needing 21 off the last over against Pune and not just getting there, but doing it with some comfort was one, Chennai's Albie Morkel-inspired chase of 206 against Bangalore was another. Both were outstanding games of t20 cricket, epitomising everything that this format should be about. Rajasthan got home against Deccan despite needing 55 runs from the last four overs in another excellent game, but these three matches - of 22 completed at time of writing - stand out for their rarity value.

For every one game where 190-odd plays 200, there have been six near-walkovers. Indeed, the Chennai v Bangalore game referred to earlier was followed immediately by Pune getting bundled out for 115 by Kings XI who then knocked off the required runs at a canter, eventually staggering over the line in the 18th over. Even without the pyrotechnics of the game that immediately preceded it, this was an absolute turd of a match. Kolkata have beaten Kings XI with almost a quarter of their overs not required, Delhi have skittled Mumbai and knocked off the requirement with even more balls than that remaining. What particularly frustrates with these games is the always-irritating strategic time-out. Yes we know they're extended ad breaks, but what strategy do you discuss when you need eight runs to win, have four overs to get them in and have seven wickets in hand? "What do you reckon Jacques?". "I reckon I'm going to clobber the next two balls to the fence Gautam". "Good plan big feller".

There have been some pitiful chases as well such as Rajasthan coming up short by 59 runs against Bangalore and Deccan failing by just the 74 against Chennai. Another nadir was Kolkata failing to beat Kings XI in their first meeting despite chasing a derisory 135 and being 73/2 at one stage. Not one facet of that game was anything like top class.

Rubbish captaincy, bizarre bowling changes and truly horrible batting has blighted the tournament this year so far, but we keep watching, hoping the next 200+ chase is just around the corner. AB de Villiers's improvisation, the sheer power of Chris Gayle and all the snarling aggression of Dale Steyn keep us interested and good job that they do, because sometimes the IPL makes itself very hard to love.