Another weird thing about the IPL is that players from almost every other nationality come to participate in India while not a single Indian player has ever gone to play in the T20 leagues in the other countries.
When the Indian Premier League first came into existence to counter the rebel ICL, people across the country welcomed this fresh breath of air with open arms. After all, with all the music, parties and film stars involved, the game of cricket took to a whole new meaning. The aforementioned factors also ensured that a completely different target audience was making their way to the stadium to watch the shortest format of cricket. Revenue was generated like never before and that became the medium to judge the success of this tournament as compared to the original thinking which was to unearth new talent for India. How many have genuinely broken through the IPL into the national setup!!!
Lalit Modi’s gamble paid off with Brendon McCullum playing a mercurial knock in that inaugural match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore for the Kolkata Knight Riders. It was that one innings which gripped the entire cricketing world and this business cum entertainment venture became an instant hit overnight. The quick turnaround times along with the flashy music and flashier cheerleaders meant that everyone in the crowd got bedazzled by a new form of cricket.
What was once a game dominated mainly by male spectators, was now a spectacle which females and children, and dancers wanted to be a part off. Mind you, some of these people brought binoculars to spot the film stars off the field and not the cricketing stars on it. An SRK sitting 15 rows in front wasn’t enough for the mere eyes and that is when the binoculars came in most handy to spot our ‘fair and handsome’ man. I have experienced this with my own eyes. The game took a backseat while all the attached frills came to the forefront.
The traditionalists bemoaned this even back then and little did everyone know how it would come back to haunt the Indian test setup. In a country of 1.4 billion almost, we can hardly seem to find batsmen who are technically sound. As a result, we make a mockery of ourselves more often than not when we to countries like England, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. Anyone who follows the original format off cricket will be able to confirm on how many occasions we have been left wanting a batsman with the technique or temperament of a Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar. No wonder these gentleman mastered conditions in all parts of the cricketing world.
Currently, there is no dearth of fancy strokes but the same players seem like fish out of water if asked to hold onto their wickets in foreign conditions as they differ vastly from sub continent conditions. If there is one major reason to blame, then it has to be the IPL. Every youngster is using the chance to play in the IPL as a stepping stone to move towards the national team when it is in fact a faultless technique which would help in all formats of the game. Anyone who doubts that, need not look no further than Kane Williamson who has showed the world that with the correct technique and temperament, one can master ALL forms of the game.
Another weird thing about the IPL is that players from almost every other nationality come to participate in India while not a single Indian player has ever gone to play in the T20 leagues in the other countries. This can be put down to the fact that they would probably get peanuts compared to what they are paid in their home country with the exception of a handful. As a result, foreigners have come here and got oodles of knowledge on things like local conditions and local players who are yet to represent the country. If our Indian players played T20 cricket in the various leagues of SA, Australia and the likes, they would gain a higher degree of knowledge and hands on experience on a lot more things.
Holding a monopoly over the ICC in terms of finances is not enough for the BCCI. This business of IPL is the cash cow of Indian cricket and may be a solid form of entertainment but it has definitely cost the country a lot of test series and will continue to do so. Sport has become an entertainment and most cricketers have become entertainers rather than sportsmen. The amount of money involved in the IPL even makes other nationalities leave their national team duties and come running to fill their pockets.
Somewhere down the line we have lost the original thought process of generating new talent for the country and instead have made other nationalities more talented on Indian soil. If Indian cricket needs to be the winner, then it is time to go back to the drawing board and come up with a better model like the Australian Big Bash League which caters mainly to their own and then a limited number of foreigners. That, I believe, is the way to generate talent if talent generation is actually the name of the game.
time out for this business.