Indian Premier League

IPL in its first season has generated more interest than the last world cup (it's better to forget the world cup as soon as we can!!!). It is a victory for the Indian cricket and the Indian "cricket- crazy" public. It is a kind of experience that the Indian public had never witnessed before- huge amounts of money, city based franchises, player auction, m(b)illionaires and film super stars owning teams, cheerleaders in sexy (it is a different question whether we need them!!) outfits, razzle- dazzle in just 3 hours....everything that the IPL provides are very new and more importantly, impressive. Cricket for the first time in India has attracted women and the young. My friend told me last weekend that his parents watch every game of the Indian Premier League. So, "Cricket is the de facto national game of India" became "IPL cricket is the de facto national game of India" in just over a month.

IPL has generated interest in almost all countries because of the money involved. Business experts predict that IPL players in the next season may be among the top earning in all of world sports.

If proper marketing is done, IPL can be expanded to countries like USA, England, Canada, South Africa and Australia. With their huge Indian population, these countries can become IPL's overseas expansion centers.

Chris Foster of LA times wrote, "Violence between players? Scantily clad cheerleaders? Toss in a rant by Charles Barkley and three minutes of commercials for every 45 seconds of actual game time and cricket may finally be ready for a mainstream American audience."

and about the cheerleaders, an article in New York times: "IN the blink of an eye, India has gone from faith, prudence and chastity to ... Brittany, Courtney and Tiffani. On Sunday, a team of Washington Redskins cheerleaders landed in Bangalore to help create India’s first cheer leading squad....."

But the biggest concern(for me) is about the identity crisis faced by the Indian cricket fan. Cricket in India is all about "Men in Blue". I can't remember a time when people thronged to watch Mumbai play against Tamil Nadu in a Ranji Trophy final. But, when India plays Australia, Pakistan or even Bangladesh, they(Including yours truly) are hooked to the TV sets and Radios.

I am a Chennai Super Kings fan (I have to be..). So, what should I do when Sachin's Mumbai Indians or Sourav's Knight Riders play against Chennai? Should I cheer Murali getting out Sachin or Vettori getting Sourav's wicket? to boo Sachin and Sourav during IPL season and not to boo them during a test/ODI in Chennai against an international team is a tough transition.

There was an interesting article in cricinfo: Observers at Bangalore on Friday and Mohali on Saturday discerned an identity problem. What to do when the two most explosive innings - Brendon McCullum's 158 and Mike Hussey's 114 - are being played by batsmen who are not simply playing for the away team but are not even Indian? After all, sustained passion for a home side you have never watched before - who have never even existed! - is always going to be tricky when it's the opposition who is providing most of the entertainment.

And the worst thing is, if I do follow CSK religiously, will I (along with millions of CSK's fans) be forced to boo Dhoni during an ODI after a successful failure with CSK (Remember Christiano Ronaldo/ Wayne Rooney/ Man U episode???).

My second concern is about the development of cricket in India because of IPL. There is always an issue about spoiling a kid with tons of money during early stages of his career. Will these young cricketers turn into Micheal Vick or Micheal Jordan? It's a waiting game. Bringing a lot of foreign players may help the local lads learn new techniques and develop new skills. But how many of the current players will be willing to share their trade secrets to the other countries' players? IPL is like EPL or La Liga, where players from different countries play for a team with a single goal of winning a championship (and an UEFA title). But the main difference is that the soccer national squads compete only once in four years for the world cup and the EURO cup or whatever. During the world cup(or EURO) year, the national squads have their training camp for over a month during which they plan and develop new strategies. But in IPL, lets say, we have to compete against Australia during June. Do you think Matt Hayden will share his batting secrets to Dhoni about facing Brett Lee? So are the players really learning?

And the last concern is about the influx of foreign players to Indian Cricket. When was the last time England won the Soccer World Cup? Man U can win this year's Champions League but can England win the EURO2008? (between 1998 and 2007, English clubs have won 2 champions league titles but they have 0 EURO cups and 0 World Cups to their credit). So, any team can win the club level championships with players from other countries. But, does that really say anything about the sport's development in that country. USA is facing a similar situation with Baseball and Basketball right now. They can claim the league winners as "World Champions", but the USA baseball was eliminated in the second round of 2006 World Baseball Classic and the USA basketball got bronze in the 2004 Olympics. So, club and country are different in any sport. There is no other sport that boasts of the home advantage as cricket. Football fans can shout when a kicker from opposite team is kicking and basketball fans can shout when a player from opposite team is attempting a free throw, but it is not even close to what we can do in cricket- In addition to shouting and harassing players from opposite team, we have the liberty to tweak the playing field. I don't think they can do that in Football, Soccer or Basketball. So, what good will come to Indian Cricket if Hayden learns to play in a spinning track of Eden or if Brett practices to generate bounce in Indian tracks (mud fields)?

Whatever the concern is, IPL is interesting and will interest me for some time.

Go, Super Kings:)