Here is the new era of Cricket in India and the world. On this journey, things are not going to be same anymore. As players from across nations unite in this new found bonhomie, international players once rivals all playing for the same team, boundaries are getting redefined now. Players once sharing the same dressing room will now fiercely stare at each other all in a drive to win for their home teams.
Curtains have already risen over the most extravagant cricket bonanza cricket buffs have been waiting with bated breaths for! Its cricketing buzz redefined. Cricket was said to be losing its sheen to Football in the country, especially in the urban areas but IPL promises to get back all those football crazy youth once again to cricket. It is BCCI’s magnum opus for everyone to watch over with friends. IPL has made a ‘crore’ look very tiny now!
IPL has commercialized cricket like never before: players were auctioned, corporate team bosses snubbed icons icons and big money rolled in. It is all about segregating the Cricket crazy nation that we are into clubs and creating entertainment in them. With the likes of Vijay Mallya, Mukesh Ambani, Shah Rukh Khan, Preety Zinta helming various clubs, the maestros of entertainment at IPL are unveiling their wares with mega entertainment bonanzas also nicknamed as the 'manoranjan ka baap'. A huge amount of money has been spent by them on bidding for players on their team. IPL has brought Cricket to every possible untrodden field and created several ways to flaunt your loyalties.
Initially 8 city based teams are sweating it out and are involved in neck to neck battles with the likes of Bangalore Royal Challengers, Chennai Super Kings, Chandigarh Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. IPL has thrown up another set of loyalties, even alternate, loyalties – the club as in professional football. For many the individual games appears to be as alluring as an Indo-Pak encounter.
Cricket and Bollywood have always been India’s premier mass entertainers. Now with Bollywood stars as owners millions of middle-aged moms and pre-pubescent teenage boys know who to cheer for, city loyalty be damned and Bollywood brand ambassadors available at a discount along with the cheerleaders shimmying heard, the marriage between glamour and cricket is all but complete.
IPL has also become the hub for popularisation of local content. Not just big names but players are coming from everywhere, from outbacks, small towns to state backwaters. These clutch of nerveless unknown talents are taking the IPL by storm as they outscore all the big names. They are to be seen, recognized and admired!
Everyone thought Twenty20 is just slam-bang. But it has shown that Twenty20 is not easier: it’s just a different ball game. It isn’t just improvisation and instinct but much more about planning and teamwork than one never thought.
The first edition of the IPL has also received its fair share of controversies with it now termed as the ‘Controversies ka baap’. From the already infamous costliest slap of the century termed as the slap gate, by Harbhajan Singh on his IPL rival S Sreesanth, which saw the formers exit from this edition of the game. Then the skimpily cheerleaders who shaked their hips and jived to the music during the games. They quickly became the darling of the crowds and cynosure of all eyes, but how can the moral police of the country stay behind which forced them to jive in long outfits for a short period.
The Bangalore team also nicknamed the ‘Test Team in T20 disguise’ never royally challenged any team which initially saw the sacking of its CEO Charu Sharma and a few more heads would have rolled in the form of Venkatesh Prasad, had not ‘The Wall’ in the form of Rahul Dravid had come in between the owner and the team. Martin Crowe added more fuel to fire by asserting the team was too old and slow and wholesale changes are expected in this team for the next season.
As teams went on exiting one after the other at later stages, gossip mills ran hayware with portraying conflicts between team owner’s coaches and the captains. Shahrukh Khan, Sourav Ganguly, John Buchanan, Preity Zinta, everyone was on the firing line. SRK even threatened to take on the ICC when he was banished from the dugout and the dressing room and SRK’s counterpart Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia was also not far behind with controversy after controversy running each other.
In all this how can players be left behind. They also wanted to share the limelight and be a part of this ‘Controversy ka baap’ with Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly publicly slamming each other and teaching each lessons from the ‘Spirit of the Game’ textbooks. The ever so silent Sachin Tendulkar slamming the third umpire for losing a crucial match by one run. The IPL has seen it all…
Now with so much success of the first edition of the IPL other nations are trying to emulate the implementation of this format with the likes of Australia and Pakistan. England is also believed to be reviewing its County Cricket structure.
Cricket has hardly ever been a global game like football but with this red hot bonsai version, cricket finally has a chance. Beers, Bollywood, cheerleaders, and thrills IPL is one glare example of big time marketing around the world. IPL has turned India into world cricket’s premier big bucks destination, the place where all top global professionals want to be.
All in all, there is unlimited entertainment on the cards - both on-field and off-field - for all of us. This version of cricket is generating a lot of appeal because of its fast entertainment providing way. No more waiting for days or hours to watch the outcome of the match. Like in popular sports like soccer or tennis, less boring moments can be expected by the spectators. The IPL has succeeded in providing a lot of cricketing entertainment to spectators.
"It isn’t just improvisation and instinct but much more about planning and teamwork than one never thought."
ReplyDeletevery well said buddy...