That's the way I feel after watching almost three weeks of IPL action. And action is the word. There's been none of that pansy 'getting one's eye in' that one sees in the 50-over game. The lads go out there with one thing on their minds: to whack that ball as far back into the stands as they can. And boy have there been sixes.

The number of sixes in the tournament, so far, is closing in on a healthy 200 and we're not even halfway through. And the tedium of an overly long tournament hasn't set in yet (it's 45 days long), like it did with the 50-over Cricket World Cup last year.

I'd still turn on the telly to watch the Chennai Super Kings take the Royal Challengers to the cleaners, although I'd much prefer it if it was the Kolkatta Knight Riders (the guys in the dodgy black and gold kit) being beaten.

I still go pop-eyed at seeing Brett Lee being hit for six, especially if it's a little known player like Abhishek Nayar doing the hitting, but maybe that's because it signals the dancing girls to come out and play.

And the timing is perfect too. The IPL is being played right when all international cricket goes into hibernation, allowing most of the big stars to be available to play, England being the only fly in the jam of course, with the start of the new English County season.

Whatever the reason, the Indian Premier League has been a joy to watch, even if some of the marquee players have been somewhat off-colour. Wisden's most recent Player of the Year, our very own Jacques Kallis, has been rather anonymous so far, as has Australian captain Ricky Ponting. Surely they will still have a say in this competition?

India megastar Sachin Tendulkar has yet to make an appearance, while Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar has been banned from playing. But there have been plenty of highlights — Kiwi wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum's 153 in the opening game, Mike Hussey's ton the next day, Virender Sehwag's demolition of the Deccan Chargers and Dwayne Bravo's heroics against the Knight Riders are some that caught my eye.

But what has really impressed me so far has been the contribution that the lesser-known local cricketers have made to the game.

Far from letting the stars dominate the tournament, they have stepped up and impressed. Chennai Super Kings' Manpreet Gony has shone with the ball, outdoing Brett Lee and Mohammed Asif, while Abhishek Nayar has been a pillar of strength batting down the order for the Mumbai Indians. Virat Kohli, India's Under-19 captain, has looked the part in patches and is certainly a future prospect worth keeping an eye on.

365