Instant cricket

In this day and age of instant cricket, the BCCI has cut absolutely no corners in making the IPL as big a marketing event as this country as ever seen. There are cheerleaders imported from the NFL teams in the United States, and now there is talk of making betting legal for the IPL. All the concepts have been picked up from the western leagues, like fantasy cricket, ownership by corporations and individuals, and huge salaries for superstars.

Initially when the IPL was first mooted by the BCCI, I hated its formation, mainly because I hate the BCCI. When it comes to corruption and incompetence in sports, the BCCI tops the list. Now one might say that how can that be, when the Indian cricket team is one of the best cricket teams in the world. Sure, but imagine the BCCI as a pimp who has a goose that lays the golden eggs. I call them pimps because they feed off the money they generate when India plays, and the domestic structure gets no attention even though it has been rotting away for decades.

Now with this purely commercial venture, the BCCI hopes to make even more money, and some say they will use it to strengthen domestic cricket. I just don’t understand the entire system. Why strengthen the Ranji and other tournaments when nobody goes to watch them? What good does that do. Where are their marketing plans to get more people to watch Ranji games, and other domestic one-day tournaments? What happens to the hundreds of players who play their hearts out for a pittance?

Before anything, the IPL is definitely a knee jerk reaction to the ICL. The ICL was a new venture, and the BCCI, just like a rich, crass person with a gargantuan ego, reacts by trying to show everyone that they can do it on a much grander scale. So bring out the pom-poms and the film stars and strut your national players where ever they will be eagerly lapped up by the doe-eyed media.

I watched the ICL, and this year, I thought it was organized very well. Most of the games were good quality, and the finals, between Lahore and Hyderabad, were just outstanding. Very well done, and the stadium in Hyderabad was packed as if the Indian national team was playing. What made me feel happiest was all these young Indian cricketers playing such good cricket, and getting so much recognition and attention and above all, good money.

The IPL, like the rich, crass person, went out to the market and auctioned all the Indian national team and international players to the teams, got all the corporates to pay for them, and are sitting smug in their chairs, counting their money. But it remains to be seen how quickly they can come up with the money to pay for everything.

I suppose I am an idealist, and I always like the underdog, but I am in no way the hypocritical fan who says cricket is his religion, but forgets to mention that its only when the Indian national team plays. In this day of media packaging, BCCI has left domestic cricket to die, and with the IPL, one can probably forget about any attention to our premier tournaments, like the Ranji Trophy, which has been around since before independence!

Yesterday was Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday, and while his birthday should be a cause for celebration for the entire country, apparently it’s only the duty of his IPL team, the Mumbai Indians, to celebrate his birthday. No, his birthday should have been celebrated by the Indian cricket team, not the team which BCCI made for him.

Ah, and finally, they are called the Mumbai Indians, and ironically, one asswipe posing as a Maratha leader is trying to portray exactly the opposite, that Mumbai is not for other Indians. I am surprised the Thackrey family didn’t create a ruckus and hurt people to demand that Mumbai team only consist of sons of the Maratha soil.