IPL - Cricke-taint-ment
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
, Posted by Onward at 2:44 AM
And so firecrackers lit up the Chennai skyline, Shivamani’s drumming echoed long into the night and a multitude of Mumbaikars in blue were left singing the blues. The Chennai Super Kings had humbled the Mumbai Indians and IPL 3 had come to a glorious end. The franchises rolled in the moolah, the big wigs at Set Max danced long into the night and the fallen genius Lalit Modi while fending off question after question coined the term “IPL = Cricketaintment”.
And that’s exactly what the IPL was. ‘Cricke- taint-ment’. The astronomical viewership quotient or the billions of dollars that filled the BCCI coffers could not hide the fact that as the umpires whipped off the bails and Mahendra Singh Dhoni stood triumphant amidst a sea of yellow, what once used to be an engaging battle between the Kookaburra and the English willow had been left much the poorer.
The tournament as a whole reeked of commercialism. The drinks breaks became strategic time outs. But the question beckoned – strategic for whom? Pepsi ensured that it in 2.5 minutes it wowed its Youngistan and Maxx Mobile rode on the Mahi wave. The legendary Richie Benaud must have endured sleepless nights as DLF Maximums, Karbonn Kamaal catches and Citi moments of success became part and parcel of the commentary jargon. And as the action on the field heated up, the camera zoomed onto the night sky and locked in on – no not a bird or a plane but the MRF blimp and a regular anecdote on Dennis Lillee and the pace foundation followed. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the coup de grace – Navjot Singh Sidhu and his Sidhuisms!
The action on the field fared no better. Catches went down in heaps and misfields became the norm but somehow clueless batsmen still managed to run themselves out. The inadequacies of the Indian domestic talent against the short ball came to the forefront while for some of the golden oldies IPL 3 seemed like a season too many. Adam Gilchrist averaged 10 balls a game, Matthew Hayden didn’t fare any better while Sanath Jayasuriya’s election campaign made more sense than his batting. And the icing on the cake - the scourge of matchfixing once again reared its ugly head while question marks were raised over the authenticity of a number of franchises and the once untouchable Lalit Modi became public enemy No1.
As the IPL circus rolled down its curtains, Money had been made, coffers had been filled and unbridled success had been attained. But the question remains – in what state has it left the world game? For now fans the world over will engulf the various coliseums to witness bowling attacks get massacred, more young un’s ll learn the slog sweep and the switch hit before the forward defence and the straight drive, and more and more prodigies will decide to drop the poisoned chalice of bowling in fear of the brutality it eventually falls victim to.
This beautiful game of cricket is changing, IPL is the new tasty recipe and for now its lip smacking good. But one day, this soup too shall taste stale. What then Lalit Modi? 5 overs a side?
Good to see your new blog...so this is what is keeping you busy