The money has been pumped in and the stage is set for a new era of cricket, but what about the ever frenzied spectators. They are caught in no man’s land.
The money has been pumped in and the stage is set for a new era of cricket, but what about the ever frenzied spectators. They are caught in no man’s land. Loyalties will be divided and new favourites will have to be found. Gautam Sheth tries to go through the puzzle and solve it.
The gentlemen of the game have now become nothing more than priceless commodities. Nothing much has been left to be taken care off to make the IPL a blockbuster of epic proportions.
The genius of IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi has given cricket a paradigm shift. Traditionalist would say that this was uncalled for, but change is the only constant thing in life.
The money splurged by brands in support of this venture has become front page stuff. The figures revolving are astronomical. I wonder if BCCI will have to buy a couple of banks too. This will help them to store the money earned.
If my calculations are right and the exchange rate of a US$ remains Rs40 on an average BCCI made close to Rs.2894 crores just by selling the teams to franchisees. It means every day the BCCI will earn Rs.79 lakhs approximately for the next ten years.
I am not counting the interest which they will earn from the mammoth figure. I still have something more to add to them. The title sponsorship which DLF acquired made the BCCI richer by Rs200 crore. The TV rights were sold to Set Max channel for $918million for ten years.
But in the near future the figures will become a thing of the past. Once the BCCI launches their new league on April 18, 2008 it will give rise to another interesting issue. The loyalties of the local spectators which until now tied with Team India will start to be divided.
To start with the most expensive team of IPL, Delhi, have got two of their local lads in Viru and Gambhir to cheer for. But when on the 22nd of May, 2008 when Delhi takes on the Kolkata team in Delhi, they will be in a soup.
What will they do if the new star of Indian cricket, Ishant Sharma, who is a Delhite but representing SRK's Kolkata team, gets Sehwag or Gambhir out? Would they at all cheer for Glenn McGrath, who was always a bitter rival of their demi-god Sachin Tendulkar.
The same goes for the Kolkata team too. They might have the star-power (SRK) and local flavour (Ganguly) combined in their team. But the possible flavour of the future from Bengal, Manoj Tiwary is representing Delhi. What if he runs out Ganguly during the match?
The fanatic Kolkatta crowd will also have to bear with their biggest new found enemy Ricky Ponting in their side provided he plays. I suspect how well would be India’s biggest threat during the T20 World Cup, Umar Gul be treated by the Kolkata masses.
Going down south, Chennai has got the eye-candy of world as well as Indian cricket with them in Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He became the most expensive player in IPL commanding a six point something crores price tag and would definitely be the star.
But the interesting thing would be to know how the South Indian natives handle their team-man Matthew Hayden who was a prick in the eye during the Bhajji-Symmo episode. Apart from Hayden’s gladiatorial way of playing game during the current CB series down-under would also be watched upon by the Chennai spectators.
In Hyderabad, the combination of the players is just too good to resist and of course to be talked or written about. The cream of the recent cricket upheaval, Andrew Symonds is their most expensive buy.
The local flavour is intact with Laxman leading the pack. Interestingly, how will Mumbai receive Rohit Sharma on 27th of April, 2008 in Mumbai when their rising star will play against them representing Hyderabad?
Also retiring wicket-keeping legend Gilly who will play for Hyderabad has not been in the good books after the controversial Sydney test.
Well, if it is Indian cricket how can Yuvraj be out of the schemes. The leader of the super-studs Mohali team has got the best bowling attack on paper. Always bang on target Brett Lee accompanied by effervescent Sreesanth and intelligent Irfan Pathan is an enviable attack.
But for whom will Mohali cheer, if Bhajji who will play for Mumbai on 25th April, 2008 at Mohali gets Yuvraj out. Again on May 21, 2008, what would Mumbai do if Ramesh Powar representing Mohali gets Sachin out in a match at Mumbai.
Aamchi Mumbai will also be caught on back foot. When Mumbai plays Bangalore in Mumbai on 20th April, 2008, if Mumbai speedster Zaheer Khan who will represent Bangalore rattle the stumps of their favourite Sachin. Chances of Bangalore-based Robin Uthappa, who will play for Mumbai running out Mumbai-based Wasim Jaffer, who will play for Bangalore should not be nullified, what then?
Come May 16th, 2008 when Mumbai will take on Kolkata in Mumbai, Dadar-lad, Ajit Agarkar will represent Kolkata would look to get local boy Sachin’s wicket. What if he gets it, Ajit despite being the local boy would get the biggest booing in his life.
And will the Bangalore crowd bear it if Robin Uthappa who is to play for Mumbai hits Anil Kumble for a six? Or the other way round, who would they cheer for if Kumble gets Uthappa out? What if Uthappa runs out Dravid? So many questions but the answer won’t come out anytime soon.
For the Pink City people, there is nothing much to be confused about. There are no locals representing any rival teams. To add more colour to the city, they have Shane Warne in their side.
They would also be able to enjoy the duel between two Pathan brothers Irfan who represents Mohali and Yusuf who would play for Jaipur.
The mother of all battles will commence when the old rivalry of Sachin and Warne will come to the fore. Also interesting to know will be if they would cheer for Warney or Munaf if they get Dravid, Sachin, Sourav, Yuvraj or Dhoni out?
Well for once spectators’ all-over India would be divided with their loyalties. They would now have to look at the bigger picture and see if IPL is the next English Premier League in the making.
Will the nation become more crazy about the club teams than their country? My answer is no, but the game of cricket is always full of uncertainty, you never know!
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