The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the best thing to have happened in my lifetime. It’s a revolutionary idea and I’m pretty excited about its outcome. In other words, I believe the IPL should have happened at least 10 years earlier.

It will sure serve Indian cricket magnificently and the youngsters will be the greatest beneficiaries. They don’t get too many opportunities to rub shoulders with the game’s greatest icons and learn tricks of the trade from them first hand. There’s a need to make the domestic meet a career prospect and the IPL may just provide the necessary impetus towards it in that it’s where enthusiasm for the game is at its intense — both spectacle and marketing-wise.

The second good thing about the IPL is that it is throwing up a level-playing field. On the one hand, you are guaranteeing huge money for the team and, on the other, you are also making sure no particular team can run away with it.

People can be sceptical about such an idea but the fact is that cricket’s landscape is changing and the IPL is the first major step towards embracing the new order. All important leagues all over the world — be it English Premier League or the NBA in the US — have taken many years to get institutionalised. The IPL has just started and, hopefully, as time goes by, it will herald a new era and benefit our domestic structure the way no one dreamed even a few years ago. Maybe we won’t see a full-house at the Eden in the first couple of years but from the third year onwards people’s attention will veer towards it. The IPL is too charming to be ignored for long.

Coming back to the Calcutta side, it’s a well-thought out strategy. Clearly, captain Sourav Ganguly had done some planning going into the auction. Both Ricky Ponting and Chris Gayle are matchwinners and getting the Australian at a cheaper price is really a smart thing. Brendon McCullum is also a huge plus for Sourav’s side. He’s a great wicketkeeper and the New Zealander really hits the ball hard.

Ishant Sharma is a new sensation who will add variety to the attack. I’m particularly elated by Murali Kartik’s addition to the side. The Eden in April and May tends to be much slower and it will provide players like Kartik with a conducive atmosphere to dictate terms.

As far as the Pakistan duo are concerned, I have a question mark over Shoaib Akhtar, but if Umar Gul is fit, he can be an asset for Sourav. When on song, Gul has the most dangerous yorkers at his disposal among his contemporaries.

Who would I have taken in my team had I owned a franchise? It’s difficult to say.

There are so many top players that missing out on the likes of Adam Gilchrist or Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not a worrying factor. When you have Ponting and Gayle by your side, you should jolly well fancy your chances. I have been given to understand that Ponting will be available for some of the matches in the first season and the Australian’s presence will be a huge boost for the entire side.

Predicting winners in the Twenty20 format is a difficult task and given the galaxy of talent on display, it makes it almost impossible. From a personal point of view, I’m not too happy with the composition of Bangalore and Jaipur teams. But get ready for some spectacular, unbelievable and surprising results.

Twenty20 cricket is here to stay and the IPL promises to be a lot of fun.