IPL 2017: Here's to a perfect 10 for an imperfect, yet impossible to ignore tournament

Ten years and all that. Ten years of (insert sponsor name) maximums. Ten years of cheerleaders. Ten years of IPL auctions. Ten years of crazy crowds: "Oh, we have a full capacity again, the crowd has rained down in (insert preferred city) to cheer their team on." Ten years of the same commentary, same commentators, same "analysis". Ten years of controversies, on and off the field. Ten years of insane batting, outstanding bowling, brilliant cricket.

Well, it's actually nine years, considering the latest version of the IPL will be the tenth one, but ten has a better ring to it doesn't it, so ten it had to be in the intro, what, with it being most important part of a story and everything.

The most important part of the IPL, something that gets lost in all the razzmatazz, is the actual cricket on the field, and there really is no better domestic T20 tournament in the world, in terms of quality in the middle, than the IPL.

That is why people still watch it, still pay money to go to the ground and get their cheer on, and sing the ridiculous team songs and the even more ridiculous ones the broadcasters put up – complain as much as you want about the noises that surround it, but for sheer cricketing entertainment, the IPL always takes some beating.

And the team everyone wants to beat this season?

The Sunrisers Hyderabad, who rode on an Australian dynamo and some bowling brilliance to take home their first ever IPL title last year.

Repeating that performance will not be easy, though. Only one team – CSK – have defended their IPL title in nine seasons.

So, smart money will be on a team not named SRH winning the title.

Maybe it will be RCB's year. But then, it has been RCB's year every year since Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and Chris Gayle came together. But surely, this has got to be RCB's year right. Kohli will return from injury in the second half of the season, RCB will go on a tear, top the standings, go into the final and then...well...then, it is up to those three superstars.

Or maybe it will be one of the other four teams – KXIP, Gujarat Lions, RPS and Delhi Daredevils – yet to win a title that will lift that shiny, golden trophy.

But then, maybe it will be those multiple winners – Mumbai Indians and KKR – that will go on to clinch a third title.

Nah, that would be boring (sorry MI and KKR fans) – who wants to see Gautam Gambhir sulking while he picks up the trophy?

So, let it be a Kohli or a Maxwell or a Raina (nah, chuck that, Raina's won enough IPL titles) or a Zaheer (that would be nice wouldn't it, with Dravid watching on proudly from the side) or a Smith (as Dhoni smiles to himself, thinking, it was all my planning and strategy and instinct, bugger).

And let it also be an adjective-filled, drool-inducing, six-hitting, bowlers-make-their-mark-as-well tournament to remember, because a world without the IPL in April and May is a boring world.

So here's to another season of glorious IPL action.