Cricket drama has Delhi sizzling

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Chris Morris BBC News, Delhi

The Twenty20 cricket league has captivated India

India's new summer obsession - Twenty20 cricket - reaches its climax this weekend with the final of the remarkably successful first season of the Indian Premier League.

Everyone in India has gone Twenty20 crazy. Bollywood, big money and lots of cricket all rolled into one. For the new India, it is the perfect combination.

Flicking from the thrill-a-minute, circus atmosphere of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on one channel, to live coverage from Lords of the test match between England and New Zealand on the next, I rather felt I had slipped back into the 19th Century.

They were all wearing white. Oh, and look, the ball is red. Someone just wheeled on the drinks trolley. I was half expecting legendary cricketer WG Grace to walk out of the pavilion with a big bushy beard.

But I doubt anyone else has been following my channel surfing habits - they are all hooked on Twenty20.

Tears, drama

There were the glamorous cheerleaders criticised by Hindu traditionalists for showing too much flesh

TV ratings for game shows and sitcoms here have plummeted as everyone tunes into the IPL, and then reads about the off-the-field dramas in the paper the following morning.

Never mind the fact that there has been some extraordinary cricket, the drama has been elsewhere.

We had one Indian test player slapping another, who then promptly burst into tears.

There were the glamorous cheerleaders criticised by Hindu traditionalists for showing too much flesh in a country where Bollywood movies are becoming more risqué by the week.

And now we have a senior policeman filing a formal complaint because one team owner shouted at him a little too loudly.

This managed to prove, if nothing else, that Indian police have feelings too.

Secret number

Luckily, I take none of it too seriously, because I am in on a secret.

I know that Twenty20 is just a passing fad. Here in the capital there is another magic number which really has got everyone obsessed. It is 2010.

That is when Delhi is set to host the Commonwealth Games. Nothing particularly remarkable about that, you might assume. But then you do not live here.

Depending on your perspective, Delhi is either cleaning up the streets or criminalising poverty

When anything goes wrong in my new home city and I ask when it is likely to be fixed, the answer invariably will be 2010.

By 2010, Delhi is going to be a world class city.

I know that because it is on the billboards and the Chief Minister has promised as much.

No power cuts, no water shortages, less pollution, more trees, more flowers, and happy smiling people.

Inconvenience is regretted, say the signs at Delhi's half-refurbished airport, as I wait in the visa queue choking on fresh paint fumes. Not a problem, I think, because it is going to be just fine by 2010.

Change everywhere

There has been a lot of unseasonable rain in the last few days - a mini-May-monsoon. The good part of that has been a welcome respite from 40-degree heat. The bad part has been the all too predictable sight of burst drains, flooded crossroads, and cars stuck axle-deep in the waters.

The league has attracts both Indian and international cricket stars

But no matter, the roads are all going to be in perfect shape by 2010. Flyovers, highways, new pavements, no cows and no beggars.

That's right. No beggars. More than 50,000 of them roam around Delhi, many in genuine need, some controlled by the begging mafia. But their days are numbered - 2010 is coming.

Depending on your perspective, Delhi is either cleaning up the streets or criminalising poverty.

Then there are all the demolished buildings on the road I take to work - knocked down after the city government suddenly decided to enforce its own planning laws. A shop in what has been designated a residential neighbourhood has no place in the vision of Delhi 2010.

There is no doubt this city is changing fast - almost everywhere you look.

Ongoing works at my office means that I am working from home today, but now my internet connection is playing up and threatening to interfere with my deadline in London.

Of course I have been told the other company which provides a more reliable service will not arrive in my neighbourhood until - you can probably guess - 2010.

<i>From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Thursday, 29 May 2008 at 1100 BST on BBC Radio 4. Please check the</i><a class="inlineText" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3187926.stm">programme schedules </a><i>for World Service transmission times.</i>