Indian Premier League – A Hit or a Miss?

The first thing which comes into my mind when I think about IPL is the money invested in it. IPL is a county cricket, a game played between teams of different regions at domestic level. Each team is owned by a franchise. Take a look at the amount invested by different franchises for their players. The figures are staggering.

Bangalore Royal Challengers   – Rs. 19.8 Crores

Chennai Super Kings                – Rs. 23.7 Crores

Delhi DareDevils                        – Rs. 22.5 Crores

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers  – Rs. 23.5 Crores

Rajasthan Royals                       – Rs. 12.8 Crores

Kolkata Knight Riders               – Rs. 24 Crores

IPL Mohali                                   – Rs. 22.9 Crores

Mumbai Indians                         – Rs. 20.5 Crores 

When India exited from the World Cup in the first round in 2007, imagine how the sentiment of public was. Everyone was running away from cricket. The Twenty 20 world cup victory changed the entire dynamics in less than six months. Some of the big names in Indian business such as Dr. Vijay Mallya, Mukesh Ambani, and movie stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Priety Zinta, Juhi Chawla are already associated with IPL. That makes IPL a blend of commerce, entertainment and sport in that order.

With players of different countries playing for a team together, no doubt, it will be an entirely different experience. India’s traditional rivals, players from Pakistan and off late rivals, Aussies will be in the same team. That’s something people will seldom get to watch.

But the Ultimate question remains “will the IPL be accepted by the public with open arms?” Will it create a spark in the country? I am skeptical. Take the previous Tri Series for example. When India was playing against Australia, millions of Indian fans from across the country were supporting the team. But this wont be the case in domestic cricket. A Kolkata fan won’t be so much interested in the tournament once his team is out. People like to stand for the “country” as a whole than for regions. Indian Cricket League (ICL) which is going on currently didn’t generate much public interest. So whether IPL will be a success or not, only future can tell.

Aussie ki Taisi

Finally India has done it! A victory over the mighty Aussies! That too on their own land. Beating Australia in Australia is a dream for every cricketing nation. The Indians have done it in style by winning the CB series 2-0. The undisputed masters for decades, four time world champions have received threat to their throne.

The journey for India though hasn’t been smooth. A relatively inexperienced captain and absence of some senior players created concerns. But youngsters in the team gave more than what was expected of them. Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, all under the age of 22, played superbly. On the other hand Australian team is ageing. Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg have already announced their retirement. The other key players Rickey Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Michael Hussey, and Nathan Bracken are all in their 30s. This is definitely a concern for the future of Australian cricket.

The one thing and perhaps the only thing that helped Indians was the team spirit. And thanks to the Aussies for creating so many controversies which brought the Indian players together. Harbhajan Singh was accused of racism throughout the tri series. Even the young Ishant Sharma was not spared. He was accused of directing Symonds to pavilion while in fact he was provoked to do so. No doubts Aussies are the champs in sledging. They provoke their opponents first and when one reacts he is accused. And as the saying goes “Action speaks a thousand words” Indians have exactly done that.

Indian Cricket is at its best. Victory in Twenty 20 world cup, Test win at Perth, Under 19 world cup victory and now victory in CB Tri Series proves that. So men in blue, keep the spirit going!