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A BBC article, amusingly titled ‘Is it all over for World Cup cricket', suggests that had India not won the 1983 edition, ‘the format might be already dead and buried'. The obvious advantages of the T20 format have been outlined in the article, as they have been in many others.
A London Evening Standard writer says the current World Cup ‘feels bloated and irrelevant', admittedly in part because of the English team's recent humiliating (1-6) series defeat to Australia. The author starts off saying, ‘There's something a bit rum about a 21st-century sporting tournament that opens with a performance from Bryan Adams.'
Bryan Adams may be ‘uncool' and ‘over the hill' for many, even in India. But for many more Indians, exposure to music from the West doesn't stretch too far beyond The Doors, Michael Jackson, Madonna, MLTR, Bryan Adams and the Shakiras and Enriques of the world. This also explains why a lot of our exposure to world music comes from tracks lifted by our award winning composers for films here.
It will be interesting to see how the interest levels in England change if their team does well in the 2011 WC.
It's ironic that during the first two days of the tournament, London-headquartered Vodafone has stood out with its teaser campaign featuring the Zoozoos. In conversation with Brand Line (Feb 17), the man at the helm of Ogilvy, the ad agency behind the campaign, Mr Piyush Pandey explained that the Zoozoos were created for the IPL. To prevent viewer fatigue, a new commercial featuring the Zoozoo characters was created for each day of the tournament.
While there are several interesting commercials being aired during the ongoing WC, Vodafone's ‘Coming soon' teaser leverages the popularity of the Zoozoos smartly. If it's a story that unfolds in phases, it will only add to the entertainment take out for viewers even as the telecom brand gets its message across.
And if the English team can give its fans back home something to cheer about, the nation's commentators might sing a different tune too.
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