You get it in excess when you get something that you had yearned for so long. Not to mention the different varieties in which it may come, so as to leave you obfuscated on what to choose and what to reject. It’s not too difficult to find parallels for this in Indian cricket as two domestic leagues in almost the same format is on the cards. The domestic cricket scenario in India had a lot to be desired and a professional league that could revitalize cricket in its grass roots was much in need. The lovers of the game saw their long cherished dream come true when the Essel Group launched the Indian Cricket League. Though it had stemmed from the BCCI’s rejection of Essel owned Zee TV’s bid for television rights for cricket matches, many perceived ICL as a whiff of fresh air capable of filling in the vacuum left in the domestic circuit. Now, the declaration of an Indian Premier League by the BCCI, on the lines of ICL, with the imminent resolve to counter it, leaves the average viewer with yet another brand of league cricket to choose from.
The New Format
Cricket, in domestic circuits, continue to be restricted to matches played between provinces unlike other professional sports where teams that are solely based in cities compete with each other. While ICL promises to break the mould by limiting its teams to selected cities and strictly abiding by it, the BCCI will be forced to fend off an ample amount of ambiguity in their conduct. IPL is said to consist of teams that could be owned by corporate companies so as to be listed in stock markets and it is possible for the different teams to trade their players. Under such a circumstance, it remains to be seen whether the BCCI could stand up to the dual challenge of continuing with the age-old domestic championships and the launch of a cricket league in an entirely different format.
The Breakdown of Monopoly
The reins held for long by the BCCI over cricket in India for decades is bound to end irrespective of the real motive that led to the launch of ICL. The BCCI has often been accused of its negligence on the development of the game in grass roots level despite being the wealthiest cricket administrator on the globe. With pay packets conceived to lure cricketers who were on the lookout for an alternative where they may be paid much better, ICL is making inroads into the cricketing world. It didn’t take long for those who were unsatisfied with the selection process of the national team too to join the league thereby defying the monopoly held by the establishment.
The War of Words
The life long bans imposed by the BCCI on players joining any other league triggered a war of words with Kapil Dev holding the mantle for ICL and finding a counterpart in IS Bindra from the BCCI’s camp. Is the board answerable to the public and the media if a batsman scores a hundred in every match in ICL and doesn’t get picked for the national side? Considering how the board has fared in the past, it doesn’t stand much of a chance. Even if the query posed by Kapil Dev goes unanswered, it’s hard to believe that Essel Group will have any objection to the verbal war between him and I S Bindra since it guarantees to keep ICL under the spotlight.
The Clash of the Leagues
After announcing the names of fifty of its players in a grand fashion, ICL has delayed the start of the matches that were due this October. With IPL to commence next April, the chances of a head on collision between the two leagues are next to nothing. However, the unfamiliarity of average viewers to professional leagues in cricket, combined with the introduction of two of them is bound to leave them confused. Though it is too early for an observer to be judgmental, success could follow the one that brings forth a better product in this clash of leagues.
PS: The faces of those snobs who used to sneer at cricket for its longer duration on the field when compared to some other sports are nowhere to be seen since the beginning of the first ever twenty20 world championships. With a match consuming only around three hours and the luxury of staging three matches in a single day (even if it’s on the same ground), those sycophants are better off having their heads buried in deep mud (and what else!).
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
A Lofted Drive
The Evolution
Those who had witnessed the devastation the English cricket team took at the hands of the Australians a few summers ago wouldn’t have dared to imagine even in their wildest musings that a resurgent English team would win back the ashes within a span of four years. Had anyone then prophesied that the team would remain unbeaten on the home turf for straight six years, he was sure to be ridiculed. That was in 2001 and a whole lot of things in English cricket have changed since then. The one-day side clutched the VB series cup and, later, the Natwest trophy with a hitherto unseen fervour that astonished those who had castigated the team for its low ratings despite being the best team after Australia in tests.
Such is the dependency of the popularity of a game on the performance of the national side so that the former fares better or worse in proportion to the latter. Of course there are exceptions like when a side has fanatical followers despite the team’s existence being limited to the fringes of the game or when a side’s best performances go unnoticed in their own backyard. But the good results from the national team combined with better and innovative domestic leagues has revived the most liked summer game of England after it’s popularity touching a low in the late ‘90s.
The Stars
It’s no secret that every game thrives on superstars, players who are a cut above the rest, box office winners - as the current expression goes. England’s search for one after the uneventful ‘90s had supposedly ended with the all rounder from Lancashire, Andrew Flintoff, a match winner in his own right. Who would have thought that more was in the offing and a lanky, tattooed batsman with varying hairstyles and aggressive batting would rise to the zenith of ICC rankings in a relatively short period of time. If Kevin Pieterson’s exploits with the willow saved England many a matches, then it was the turn and flight on leather that equipped a sardar to return with impressive bowling figures after every test match. Monty Panesar not only became a sellout name but also found many impersonators, complete with turban and beard, following him. It would be difficult to find another paradigm for a captain inspiring the rest of the lot than Paul Collingwood, an excellent fielder and a trustworthy batsman, under whom the ODI team was a revelation as an admirable fielding side. One more mammoth shot in a final over could have made Dimitri Mascarenhas only the second batsman in international cricket to hit every ball in an over for a six, nonetheless it catapulted the powerful hitter who already had the reputation of being a finisher into stardom. Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright, Owais Shah and Stuart Broad are some of the names that are most likely to join the list of the current crop of stars in taking the game forward in the near future.
The Leagues
It would be difficult to find a more appropriate moment than the eve of the first Twenty20 World Championship to throw light on the most sensational and innovative change ever to be brought into the domestic circuit in any cricketing nation. The introduction of a much shorter version of the game with sides playing 20 overs per innings into the county championships was phenomenal. It was instantly rewarded with overwhelming support from the sport loving public. The packed stadiums and the proliferated number of television viewers ensured financial gains but the greatest return of all was that it brought back the once lost focus onto the game of cricket in England. The fast paced game culminated in the emergence of forceful strikers of the ball who rightfully earned their place in the national ODI team. As we get to see a recuperated English side, it’s almost impossible to ignore the influence of the Twenty20 and the Pro40 (one-day matches with 40 overs per innings) championships on the performance of the national side.
Those who had witnessed the devastation the English cricket team took at the hands of the Australians a few summers ago wouldn’t have dared to imagine even in their wildest musings that a resurgent English team would win back the ashes within a span of four years. Had anyone then prophesied that the team would remain unbeaten on the home turf for straight six years, he was sure to be ridiculed. That was in 2001 and a whole lot of things in English cricket have changed since then. The one-day side clutched the VB series cup and, later, the Natwest trophy with a hitherto unseen fervour that astonished those who had castigated the team for its low ratings despite being the best team after Australia in tests.
Such is the dependency of the popularity of a game on the performance of the national side so that the former fares better or worse in proportion to the latter. Of course there are exceptions like when a side has fanatical followers despite the team’s existence being limited to the fringes of the game or when a side’s best performances go unnoticed in their own backyard. But the good results from the national team combined with better and innovative domestic leagues has revived the most liked summer game of England after it’s popularity touching a low in the late ‘90s.
The Stars
It’s no secret that every game thrives on superstars, players who are a cut above the rest, box office winners - as the current expression goes. England’s search for one after the uneventful ‘90s had supposedly ended with the all rounder from Lancashire, Andrew Flintoff, a match winner in his own right. Who would have thought that more was in the offing and a lanky, tattooed batsman with varying hairstyles and aggressive batting would rise to the zenith of ICC rankings in a relatively short period of time. If Kevin Pieterson’s exploits with the willow saved England many a matches, then it was the turn and flight on leather that equipped a sardar to return with impressive bowling figures after every test match. Monty Panesar not only became a sellout name but also found many impersonators, complete with turban and beard, following him. It would be difficult to find another paradigm for a captain inspiring the rest of the lot than Paul Collingwood, an excellent fielder and a trustworthy batsman, under whom the ODI team was a revelation as an admirable fielding side. One more mammoth shot in a final over could have made Dimitri Mascarenhas only the second batsman in international cricket to hit every ball in an over for a six, nonetheless it catapulted the powerful hitter who already had the reputation of being a finisher into stardom. Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright, Owais Shah and Stuart Broad are some of the names that are most likely to join the list of the current crop of stars in taking the game forward in the near future.
The Leagues
It would be difficult to find a more appropriate moment than the eve of the first Twenty20 World Championship to throw light on the most sensational and innovative change ever to be brought into the domestic circuit in any cricketing nation. The introduction of a much shorter version of the game with sides playing 20 overs per innings into the county championships was phenomenal. It was instantly rewarded with overwhelming support from the sport loving public. The packed stadiums and the proliferated number of television viewers ensured financial gains but the greatest return of all was that it brought back the once lost focus onto the game of cricket in England. The fast paced game culminated in the emergence of forceful strikers of the ball who rightfully earned their place in the national ODI team. As we get to see a recuperated English side, it’s almost impossible to ignore the influence of the Twenty20 and the Pro40 (one-day matches with 40 overs per innings) championships on the performance of the national side.
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