In the next few days, all sections of the media are going to sell you a product you've already been buying every year since 2008. Like Roadies and Sasural Simar Ka, the IPL is back to fill the evening slot on our televisions. It's that time of the year again when real cricketers take part in an edge-of-the-seat reality show. Thank God for Capitalism (NOT). But it's good entertainment, no denying that. It's great entertainment for us, the regular TV audiences, who have been fed with mediocrity in the form of Bigg Boss for years now. Compared to that, IPL is GOLD. And that's what it is, an entertainment show. NOT A CRICKET TOURNAMENT.

From the royal stands of Lord's to the cheerleading platforms at IPL matches, our beloved game of cricket has come a long horrible way.

Venomous for longer formats

Players, both young and experienced, are getting more and more conditioned to the T20 format with the influx of IPL and that is affecting the very foundations of cricket: temperament and technique.

Scoring runs is as important for a batsman as staying on the crease for long durations. The art of being defensive to save your wicket and the patience to outwit a bowler are being threatened with IPL's influence in international cricket.

Sure, the IPL helped Rohit Sharma score 264 in a One-Day match, but some of the most talented players of the country have been restricted to the shorter format as a result. Case in point: Suresh Raina.

The IPL - with all its glamour and grandeur - is more of a high-intensity Bollywood film than a cricket tournament and that's exactly how we should enjoy it!