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Feb232008
How the IPL murdered cricketing merit
Go ooh, go aah, go gasp, go rotfl, go wtf, or any emotion that comes to mind, but none can do justice to the exclamation of surprise I let out when I looked at the auction, over and over again in disbelief. If this is the IPL’s idea of making cricket entertaining, it’s doing a great job - and is treading the mighty thin line which separates cricket from being a sport as opposed to entertainment.
Consider this: Ricky Ponting is arguably the world’s best batsman, atleast the best batsman out there in the auctionables, alongside Matthew Hayden who has proved himself at the T20 level. In the same squad, exists a young, rookie pacer, a certain long-haired bowler who goes by the name of Ishant Sharma, who fetched - and I’m not shitting you on this - $950,000. That’s more than twice the purchase value of Ponting and Hayden. Strange. Of course, Shahrukh Khan could argue that he gone one of the finest T20 bowlers, Umar Gul, at a throwaway rate of $150,000, which is like buying an i-Pod Shuffle for $4.99, a 1GB version if I may.
Continuing the absurdity, Uthappa went for $800,000 - I don’t understand why - when someone like Boucher went for just $450,000. I mean, I can understand Dhoni’s extraordinary price - he did captain the side to the trophy, and he is a fine, fine hard-hitting batsman with great attitude - but hello, is he really a better player than Gilchrist or Boucher? And how did all the other chaps go for so less?
It’s extremely evident, from the auction, that this was a series of pure business transactions and had nothing to do with each player’s ability. The idea was to get the crowd-pullers, and as a result, young folks who could get better sponsorship deals or prove better brand ambassadors have come out tops. Girls would generally go ga-ga over an Uthappa selling Coke, doesn’t really matter if Ponting times the ball a hundred times better so Uthappa obviously - yet shockingly - fetches a larger price.
That is shameful for the sport. It makes these cricketing heroes look like you-know-whats, and the IPL-organizers their pimps. With all that money floating around, was it really worth murdering the merit in the game?
The other point is, all this dough for T20? Agreed, T20 is exciting, has all the fun, gets all the crowds, gets a certain group of four females to swing their hips and shake their rears ever time the ball (cricketing one) kisses the rope or the woodwork, but excuse me, for what really? There is little in T20 that challenges a cricketer as compared to Test or ODIs, and while I am in no means against T20, where is the cricketing ability put to Test? Unless, of course, you’re commenting and the fingers fly faster. Make no mistake, I’m all for T20, but isn’t there way too much money pumped into this game? And isn’t this being ultra-rude to some of cricket’s contemporary greats?
And don’t even get me started on the disappointment that so much more money is still pumped into this game, and for the players. Every extra penny spent on Dhoni and his team is a penny that could’ve otherwise gone to sponsoring a non-cricketing sportsman or sportswoman, and given them - and their sport - better recognition.
Those who know me, know how crazy I am about cricket, the kinds who have - and will - cancel dates, sleep two hours at night and in the future might even call in sick just to catch a match. I want the sport to grow, to excel, to improve, and to evolve, but if this is how it’s going to happen, then growth be damned, give me my old game back.
Worst of all, I am disappointed that this bastardisation of cricket happened in my own backyard. Come early April and the obsession with cricket will re-ignite automatically - one Harsha Bhogle ESPN promo will get me kicking - but for now, I see the IPL more as a trading floor than a cricketing league. The BCCI better fix this soon, otherwise the IPL will turn out to be the item-number of the cricketing calendar as opposed to a competitive cricketing league.
The views expressed in this post are those of the writer and are not necessarily endorsed by Mutiny.in
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Krishna Aradhi
001
9:10 am
Well written! I was surprised when Ponting was ’sold’ so cheaply. It was clear from that very moment that this whole IPL thing is more about business than about cricket.
| Balu |
002
12:46 pm
I dont agree with u when you say.. so much money hudnt be put into a T20 game.. my question why not?
The rates being offered in IPL is on par (below par) to what is being offered in English Premier League
chck this article on cricinfo http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/339157.html
and why were overseas players sold so cheap.. because they wont be available for more than half of the matches.. what good are players you cant use!
unknownsoul
003
12:50 pm
Its ok to put money on T20 players for the Tourney but why auction them like slaves yaar this is like going back to roman times when gladiators where sold.
And if foriegn players wont be available they’ll get only 25% of match fee
2S
004
12:54 pm
@Balu - my point is, the more money you put into T20 - and with such imbalance - it not only means that this game has been monetized beyond merit, but it also is unfair to other sports in India where the money is needed to better the infrastructure and prepare more world champions there.
As far as non-availability is concerned, let’s keep the Aussies out for a bit - even Boucher, or Umar Gul, is a real steal when you compare the values, especially Umar Gul and Ishant Sharma.
| Balu |
005
1:03 pm
I dont understand one thing why is cricket blamed for the lack of money for other sports.. cricket earned its money thanks to policies of Jagmohan dalmia during 96 WC… (since then theres been no looking back)
Now if you talking abt imbalance between T20 and one day/test matches. … keep in mind similar comparison were made during the early years of one day matches as well.. with time thins will even up.. Indian cricket board is just trying to make hay when the sun is shining!
Even Boucher, or Umar Gul, is a real steal when you compare the values, especially Umar Gul and Ishant Sharma.
LOL I agree to this point… Umar Gul was a real steal he s brilliant in T20 matches.. god alone nows what they were thinking!
2S
006
1:08 pm
@Balu - am not blaming cricket, I’d dig my grave before I’d blame this wonderful game
I’m blaming the authorities around it, the sports ministry, and the businessmen involved who are so money and publicity hungry that they don’t realise that they’re doing. I was so pleased to see Vijay Mallya have the balls to go out there and purchase a F1 team and invest money outside cricket, but even he joined the bandwagon.
| Balu |
007
1:15 pm
Vijay Mallya s a businesman thats why he invested in F1 (international level) than in football in India!
And what are they doing by being money and publicity hungry? I believe if football and hockey in India is run the way cricket is being run.. they can also be popular and reap money.. the success of cricket brings to light the incapability of other sports bodies
unknownsoul
008
1:25 pm
Balu Umar gul is A pretty handy bowler for T20 the yorkers he fires at the death overs are awesome and he was leading wicket-taker for The Tourney.
But if some funds are diverted from the Overloaded coffers of the BCCI(righty has CONTROL in its name) could atleast diverted some of its resources towards other sports to atleast provide them a platform to start off with (they can help Srilankan ckt board so why not other sports?)
The other sports are less glamorous as compared to Cricket or F1 or even football to an extent and this leads to busness men running away from them for sponsorships. The DLF group paid something to the Tune of 200crore to have the IPL named DLF premier league. if only had they donate 20cr to the PHL or the I-league
| Balu |
009
1:36 pm
Hmmm a while back BCCI announced that they will give some money for development of other sports in the country.. any idea what happened to that plan? Did Sharad Pawar eat it up?
unknownsoul
010
1:41 pm
@Balu
I think so. It reflects in his Size. Btw he is more into becoming the ICC chief more than anything else
Sanjukta
011
1:49 pm
Thanks for writing down how stupid is this auction. What cheap entertainment is this.
Mohan
012
4:10 pm
[QUOTE]and is treading the mighty thin line which separates cricket from being a sport as opposed to entertainment.[/QUOTE]
I think they’ve already tripped! Will they fall or will they regain balance is to be seen…
Shivendra
013
11:34 pm
Its really shocking that the IPL has allowed players from the U19 indian cricket team to play in this 20-20 format . Sorry to say but this is not the paractice to groom young indian talent .. Players who have not played even a single match in whites for the country are suddenly thinking of thousands of $’s . Now , no one’s talking about the player burn out issues in the world cricket since this involves easy money without much of pain . Sorry to say but too much of 20-20 format would let the cricketing standards down , and we won’t have like of crafty batsmen like laxman’s , dravid , azhars anymore in indian cricket .
Tarun Chandel
014
11:43 pm
No no no Sandil I don’t agree with you that IPL is going to be an item number. I believe it is going to be a big change and a good change. How, I will analyze that some other time. Regarding the players going for bizarre prices, I think it is plain economics and market dynamics. Ricky Ponting was having a bad phase at the time of bidding so people picked him for less. Dhoni is hyped so he is getting more. Indians are fetching more as the teams are going to play in India and Indian people will relate better to an Indian than an outsider. Since it is IPL Indians will/should get more than others (I am sure if it would have been Australia PL Dhoni would have got even less than Ponting and Bhajji would not even be considered). I am not surprised by the biddings rather the good side to analyze is how some players were setting themselves up for this bidding!
Regards,
Tarun
{ t }
015
10:46 am
Well this auction cannot be justified by comparing it to the English Premier League!! no way..!!!! if this same parameters were in place as the IPL auction when Arsenal or Man-yoooo bought players then whoa —– Amy Winehouse would fetch more money than Christiano Ronaldo!
What makes the EPL exciting is talented players slugging it out on the pitch… not models who can sell jams ‘n jellies. IPL has a long way for it to have EPL style fan following, but i guess it will get there some day!
well written though!
Nagashankar
016
5:24 pm
One of the best interests is to make the sport look more lucarative for tons of upcomming cricketers in our country.. but in turn it is more money to the ones who already have enough..
There will be a chance for many local players to prove thier point and get into the International Cricket Team, but it shouldn;t happen the way it is happening with EPL where you end up having more and more foreign players to make sport interesting and the chance given to the localities decreases and the whole positive motive is lost..
Venkatesh Sridhar
017
8:59 pm
Well, I hate to understand why are the business folks so beaten up whenever it comes to Cricket and sponsorship and so on. Come on, any intelligent person always invests with a goal to get a return on it. Why did you do study so hard for Engineering/MBA/CA etc etc it was an investment you made to reap returns. Remember during the dot com bust, the computer engineering or software engineering was hot, now its telecom and this will go on. That’s life.
The BCCI did commit the biggest mistake by calling it an auction, they should have named it the IPL Draft. Anyone who has ever seen the matches or played the video games of NFL,NHL, NBA, Baseball (US), etc or followers of EPL know as the transfer window. It was the exact same thing, it was for the first time the franchisee and draft component were added to cricket.
There is money to be made, which is why there has been this much investment being made.If someone invested US$1.5 million he is going to reap a minimum of 3x the value he paid for Dhoni, he has got mouths to feed, salaries to pay, etc.
Don’t just keeping blaming businesses . And I agree with the thoughts presented here that it is possible for Indian Football to also be as popular as Indian cricket. All followers of EPL know that EPL wanted to start playing in Asia, guess who was the first to approach EPL to say they are ready to host the venue - it was Dubai. Where was Priyaranjan Dasmunshi? He could have called up and said, we have a big huge following of EPL fans here and there will be people who will attend, I will upgrade infrastructure to the standards you prescribe. That one move would have attracted attention to Indian football. But no, Dasmunshi is busy with his political career and has no time for Indian football.
Someone rightly mentioned that it was Jagmohan Dalmiya’s business acumen which made Indian cricket popular. So don’t blame cricket for the stupidity and laziness of the other sports organizers.