The IPL heat hasn't cooled down yet

The IPL was a smash hit but others have taken a hard knock because of the six-week long cricket celebration. Popularity of weepy saas-bahu serials dropped, footfalls in busy city malls declined, and multiplexes saw an alarming slump in collections.
Dhoni says he lost weight because of tension, Sehwag too felt the heat. Sreesanth enjoyed the whirl but, at times, was not sure which city he was playing in. Bishan Bedi slammed the tournament in very strong terms and Rahul Dravid expressed concern for Test cricket. That remains to be seen but IPL proved that cricket is king, and sells on its own, while the entertainment is fine but, ultimately, peripheral. Even filmstars now grasp the power of cricket and understand there is huge value in being seen at a match. They hunger for publicity and cricket provides that in abundance. Cricket is national headlines, and page 3!
With the IPL, cricket moved forward. Now onwards players will show more energy as they shed their inhibitions. This will impact 50-50 games and Test cricket down the line. We could, as a result of 20-20, have scores of 400 in a 50-over game, or 400 from 90 in a day of Test cricket.