I am writing this because for the first time in life I found an India-Pakistan match boring. The same India-Pakistan match which people also write as their ideal match in Orkut profiles. And certainly the reason is nothing but IPL.
The first season of IPL left a mark in the cricketing world, something that will be looked back as a remarkable change for years to come. As I was in the college I didn’t get to see the earlier matches, but after coming home, the 8-12 time slot was on no day less entertaining. Poised as “entertainment ka baap”, it gave the saas bahu soaps a big jolt. Probably Indian housewives have realised by now that there is life beyond Ekta Kapoor. And once the IPL 1.0 came to a splendid end on June first, people including me started suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
I was supporting the Kolkata Knight Riders initially, not logically but because of being SRK and Dada fan. The only thing good about the team, the way they kicked off the inaugural match and the way Ganguly signed off in style. Probably that knock of his was for Chappel and Eden Gardens.
IPL might have been a money minter for a few teams only, but it certainly added value to the game. We found Indians cheering Pakistani players on the field, upcoming players mentored by greats like Shane Warne and McGrath, a completely written off team before the beginning of the season winning away the IPL 1.0, players giving there more than 100% to save a single... Overall it has increased the standards of the game. The policy of just 4 international players per match kept the tournament pretty Indian and also gave the young talented players a platform to perform, although in the very beginning it seemed more as an International Premier League.
But the Season 1 wasn’t void of controversies either. It started with politicians opposing the scantily clad cheerleaders in IPL matches, grow up guys...we need to evolve. Though a very American concept but still T20 isn’t for oldies to make it less interesting: P. Not only this, two dark skinned cheerleaders accused the team management of racial discrimination. But the spice was added by Bhajji slapping Sreesanth on the field. Well Sree deserved a tight slap, a slap worth 3 Crore :O, and later behaved well throughout the series, but still Bhajji show some decency dude!!! It wasn’t to get over, Sachin who usually doesn’t get involved in controversies questioned the poor third umpiring decisions and rightly so. Even a drunk n down person could have taken correct decision on the TV replay... Ganguly challenged the ground umpires and got the decision referred to the 3rd umpire to his favour but that sparked off a verbal battle between him and Shane Warne...
IPL didn’t only have effect on cricket but also on various walks of life. Parle introduced 20-20 biscuits, Dhoni just got better with more endorsements, CEOs left their board rooms and to cheer their teams on the field and movie stars got another job of getting associated with an IPL team. So with the glamour pouring into the game TRPs ought to increase. All news channels allocated the time slot for strategising and providing free of cost consultancy to the teams. Hindi news channels, dumbest of all, gave employment to the retired cricketers who have been forgotten.
If somebody needs to learn a lesson is Vijay Mallya... Firing the coach and CEO in the middle of the tournament, lashing out at one of the most dedicated players India has ever produced is highly unprofessional. If IPL is about cricket glamour and flamboyance; it’s also about making money. The Royal Challengers is the team counting biggest losses, with no sponsors in the first place and secondly Kingfisher itself sponsored other teams...
At the end of season 1 there are some unanswered questions which nobody can predict...Will IPL like events take away the charm of ODIs? Is it a game only for guys in their 20s? Will players risk their fitness for money? Will cricketers give IPL a priority above playing for country?
Only time will tell whether we lose the charm of international cricket or not, but there are instances which refer to the other issues. Sachin and Zaheer Khan declaring themselves unfit for tri-series but playing for their IPL teams till last match.... Aussies getting Pakistan tour cancelled citing security reasons and making room for IPL.. Well it’s too early to be judgemental.
But then IS CRICKET THE ONLY GAME THAT INDIA PLAYS? We still have to pray for not getting out of Olympics on a duck...look at the sentence that I just framed...so much cricket imbibed into us...WTF!!!
I just wish that other games don’t die out in the background of cricket.
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