The inception of the Indian Super League indeed had the business side as the primary motive, but it would be unfair to say that the tournament hasn’t had a contribution to the development of Indian football. Since the time the tournament earned the AFC accreditation prior to the 2017-18 season, the number of teams participating have increased to 10 and the inclusion of a top club like Bengaluru FC has also proven to be a huge boost. More than anything else, the game has seen a spike in quality and consequently, the viewership has also increased drastically. The 2017 season of the league had a television viewership of 270 million and this season the tournament also builds on that momentum. While there have been good quality football on offer this time around, the TV production has also been top notch, making things cool for the viewers. Indian football is no more a boring affair and the first week is a testimony to this.

It created a stir on social media when Karanveer Kaushal became the first batsman to record a double ton in the Indian domestic List A cricket. While 200 is not a new thing in Indian cricket anymore with as many as four 200+ scores have been recorded by the Indians on the international circuit, it was a sweet aberration that a player from the cricketing backwaters of Uttarakhand scored a double ton to be the pioneer in the domestic arena. Karnaveer Kaushal struck a 135-ball 202 to star in Uttarakhand's 199-run win over Sikkim in the Plate Group game of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. His century not only helped him gain overnight attention, but it has also kept Uttarakhand's hopes of qualifying for the next round afloat. 18 years after the state was formed, it was only this year that the BCCI agreed to given them affiliation after their initial reluctance in providing affiliation to the state due to differences between different cricket associations making claim for forming the state body. Kaushal’s double ton has been a shot in the arm in BCCI’s ambition to take cricket to new centres and considering the fact that they are under the keen eye for their performances, it might prove to be a new dawn for newest entrants.

Windies showed some promise coming into the India series, and although they were not expected to win it, people thought they at least wouldn’t crumble under pressure. However, Kemar Roach and Jason Holder’s absence from the team made sure that they had to field a completely inexperienced XI - one that proved to be a no-match to this Indian side. India crushed them completely to secure the biggest win of their history by runs and it was only expected that people would criticise Windies’ performance. However, Harbhajan Singh went one step forward and in a sheer disrespect way, stated that the Windies team could never even qualify for the Ranji quarter-finals from the elite group even and doubted if they can do it from the plate group even. While the quality of cricket on offer was not at all at par with the international cricket, it is a thing to be remembered that their second best bowler is just five-match old and most of the players don’t know how to play spin. It is a learning experience for them and one that will prepare for bigger challenges. Harbhajan, being a senior cricketer, could at least have been respectful in his comments.

What happened in the last few days regarding the distribution of passes for the upcoming India-Windies limited-overs series, none envisioned it to be an ugly episode. After Indore expressed their inability to host the second ODI with only five percent of tickets available for them to give their stakeholders as per the new BCCI constitution, CAB and TNCA also shared their problems to abide by the new rule. However, no one can fault them as running an association in a city always goes hand-in-hand with various other logistical concerns and without the help of various agencies, it is almost impossible to pull off the circus. Kolkata, for example, when hosts a match, can never function without the help of different government agencies and public sector companies which have been responsible in hosting matches at Edens peacefully. So, asking them to pay for the ticket money is not possible for the association. Although BCCI eventually mended their way and the Committee of Administrators (CoA) has decided to reduce the BCCI’s share of complimentary tickets to half – from 1,200 to 604, but that is unlikely to cut ice with some associations if they don’t change the original 10% policy.