Are you an aging bat-and-ball player, who wants to prolong his career but doesn’t want to get caught up in potential problems with performance-enhancing drugs (see below)? Then, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is for you. It only occurs once a year; each game lasts only three hours; you have about 15 games to push your old and broken body through; and you make pots of dough. For Australians Shane Warne (aged 41) and Adam Gilchrist (39), among others, the IPL has become a highly lucrative coda to stellar international careers—and they actually look as though they’re having fun. For Shaun Tait, who’s only 28 and thus hardly ready for the glue factory, but whose career as a fast bowler for Australia has been checkered by injury, the IPL offers a chance to make money without putting his body through any more mauling than absolutely necessary. As a result, the IPL is a curious mixture of up-and-coming Indian cricketers wishing to make a splash and perhaps go on to greater glories with the national team and old-timers wanting to keep their oar in (and make some cash) before they finally go out to pasture. Perhaps baseball could follow suit?

By the way, you can now watch all IPL games on India Times’ YouTube site. Check it out bat-and-ball fans.