Not many a time I would celebrate a downfall but I would now as what was supposed to be a gentlemen's game was refashioned into a lucrative investment avenue by a mercenary business man with the patronage of a some eminent personalities. Never had I thought that this game that had united the entire nation, the game that is every Indian's religion would asunder the emotions of the people who once cheered the very player whom he now lampoons.
If at all someone who has never played music all his life would become the maestro of an orchestra the resultant music would be a mess but I found it amusing when someone who had never played cricket in his life for that matter even "tennis ball street cricket' ( oongli cricket does not count) was credited with infusing life to the game and raising the bars to a new level. And I have to admit I was nonplussed at the speech when he claimed that he had realized his dream of having a league that the whole world envies. May be I have to say his dream is fulfilled for it filled the coffers of those who was expecting returns out of it.
And to recollect the past, IPL was devised to bury ICL form the centre stage (they say it is his brain child, I suppose plagiarizing is what they meant). In fact the Board was generous enough to ban those who played for ICL for ICL was not cricket and it did not make those administrators richer by a penny. I suppose the Haryana Hurricane should take a leaf out from him and should devise something that would bring mercenary gains rather than the upliftment of the game.
I have to celebrate IPL because it has turned cricket into an X box mode where all it matters is to bludgeon the white leather into the stands. The skill, technique, patience, endurance and class that made this game alluring had made way to might, aggression, power and madness. If there would be another IPL in this year, I am afraid that the turbanator would be nothing less of a bowling machine that fires in all the Yorkers, I suppose Zaheer would forget you can make the ball move either ways, Ishanth would forget the term “beaten". And to make things worse, Yuvraj would watch his cover drives only on highlights, Dhoni would qualify for American Baseball league, Suresh Raina would label all parts of the ground as mid wicket.
A special thanks him for we are able to see the axe effect even between the deliveries. I am overjoyed that IPL did not come up with the idea of airing advertisement after the bowler had release the ball and before it reaches the batsman. I guess if he had been there for few more months the broadcasting rights would be auctioned and a particular franchise has to make space for advertisement loge even on their jockeys. (I guess they can sport logos on the ball as well and so every time they show replays the impoverished league could earn some more bucks)
I am not as philanthropic as him but to overlook the positives. When you realize that the league donates a huge sum to NGO s at the end of every match you wonder whether that it is because that NGO was associated with one of the franchise's related party. And I place the stress on the term "huge sum" because what is being donated is more than half of what the league generates as revenue.
It’s true that many have become overnight stars but I doubt whether they can stay there even for a while. I ponder whether the master would have played with stitches in his hand if not for the pressure from the franchise owners. I question the way they accommodate the matches as every season there would be at least 10 cricketers who would miss national duty. I suppose the administrators abhorred the terms 'six' and 'catch' for they substituted them with more meaningful and much needed "maximum' and "kamal". (May this is what he meant by developing the game to new standards" Well done I must confess)
And I appreciate the fact that few cricketers have become non-residents because they want more income as the league pays them in meager 8 digit numbers. In spite of the entire shortcoming, the only negatives I could state are some of the players who never change with the developments of the game. Sachin would still play his leg glance and Rahul would be brave enough to play a copy book cover drive in the penultimate over yet branded unfit for the format of the game that requires you to sway your bat when the ball is bowled.
I must stop praising him for I am running out of words. Gone are the days when an Indian spinner’s dip and flight was described to that of the magician who has a rope tied to the ball and when the batsman was about to play, he pulls it back with the string. If one cannot enjoy the 350 ball century by Mark Richardson or the Marathon effort of Rahul or the mesmerizing reverse swing of Simon Jones or the seducing strokes of Mark Waugh or the match saving 10 hour grind of Gautam Gambhir they do not deserve to enjoy the class of the little master, the artistry of the great wall or the elegance of the Bengal tiger. All they deserve is the might and madness of the game which once encased fine intricasies. If I decide to not to be harsh I would say Test cricket was seducing, One day was romantic and T20 was in the middle.
