IPL is not just a tournament for the fans who watched it live on Sony Max and Sony Sports Channels during its first 10 years, but it is an emotion. The Indian Premier League holds a special place in the hearts of those fans, who may not be following the league as enthusiastically as they would, but deep down in their hearts, they still want to relive the golden days of the Indian Premier League.
Back then, it was just about summer vacation, playing cricket with friends, collecting cricket attax cards and watching the IPL matches live on TV at nights. It is not that Star Sports coverage is bad, but many fans would agree that the new broadcast in the last six years has not been anywhere near the level of Sony Max, and here are five things that die-hard fans miss the most.
1. Engaging team of anchors at pre-show and post-show
There was a time when fans would tune in at 7:00 PM, one hour before the match starts, to watch the likes of Navjot Singh Sidhu, Gaurav Kapoor, Samir Kochchar, Archana Vijaya, Shibani Dandekar, Isa Guha, Harsha Bhogle and Ajay Jadeja on the pre-show. The coverage of the current team is not that engaging.
2. Customized commercials for all matches
All IPL matches would have a special hype ad of around 10 to 15 seconds that would inform the fans about the matches for the next day.
3. Not too many highlights shows
One of the reasons why watching Indian Premier League live was so important that the highlights were not so easily available. It would only come in the IPL season, and there would be one full repeat of the game after it ended. Nowadays, anyone can watch the match any time.
4. Unique theme songs for pre-season
The pre-season theme songs ‘India Ka Tyohar’, ‘Dil Jumping Jampaak’, ’10 Saal Aap Ke Naam’, ‘Pistah’ and other promotional ads are still fresh in the minds of the die-hard fans. Such theme songs have disappeared these days.
5. IPL timer
Miss this countdown meter they had before IPL, would open Set Max daily just to see this number going down😣 #IPL2020 #23DaysToGo pic.twitter.com/YTZLreDKPX
— Straight Cut (@StraightCut_) March 6, 2020
The reverse countdown on Sony channels before a new Indian Premier League season would build the hype without too much promotion. Seeing the timer would excite any fan before the new season. The die-hard fans can consider themselves lucky to have witnessed IPL live in its best era back. Hopefully, things will change in the coming seasons.
