Celebrating Greatness (published)

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He has played for over two decades, he has achieved pretty much everything there is to achieve in the game of cricket, he has always put his team before himself, he is one of the few ‘gentlemen’ of the game, he doesn’t have the most masculine voice but his presence more than compensates for it and his results put him in a league that only he is a member of.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the Little Master, turns thirty-eight today. Over a billion people will celebrate this day and fondly reminisce, when newspapers, TV sets and websites broadcast the tremendous ladder of success that the batting legend continues to climb, the team mates around him that have come and gone, the changing formats of the game that he has experienced and seamlessly adapted to and the different stickers his bat has worn. The one constant element amongst these changing landscapes has been Sachin’s commitment and passion for the game.

His graduation from a debutant to a rising star to the most feared batsman to a legend of the game to arguably the most powerful brand in cricket is a clear testament to that. His demeanour on and off the field, his commitment to and love for the game, his respect for the opposition and his grounded personality have attracted praise from spectators and fellow players the world over, so much so that a Kiwi fan named his son after the batting Maestro.

People in India and overseas have travelled great distances to watch the Little Man go about his business. Sledging tends to take a back seat when he bats, simply because he lets his blade do the talking. Come to think of it, he is one person people enjoy watching, admiring and respecting.

When Sachin Tendulkar walked onto the field with India’s flag placed on his helmet above the BCCI logo, he silenced many a critic in terms of where his priorities lay. And when we see every member of the squad with the national flag on his helmet today, we know how it all started. Sachin Tendulkar has symbolically been the longest standing captain of the Indian cricket team.

When the next generation asks us about India’s favourite son, we will feel privileged to having witnessed this man grow in front of our eyes, not only from a boy to a man but from a player to one of the greatest ambassadors of the game.

Wishing Sachin Tendulkar many many happy returns, and so much more!

IPL – Incredibly Powerful League (published)

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I was fortunate to get tickets to the Delhi Daredevils vs. Mumbai Indians game at Kotla yesterday and was ecstatic at the prospect of seeing India’s favourite son, Sachin Tendulkar, in action. In fact, I was fortunate to reach the venue just in time to watch the Mumbai Indians Team being driven into the compound, with the great man sitting up front – just another day at the office for the Maestro, I thought to myself. Security was thick and so was the attendance, and that just gave me an idea of the serious ‘moolah’ that is pumped into every IPL game. Before I could embark on the near impossible task of mentally crunching the numbers, we were ushered to proceed to our respective seating areas.

The game was not exactly an expected swashbuckling spectacle but it was exciting to see Malinga fire speeding bullets at the Delhi batsmens’ toes. The crowd was not as noisy as expected and that was indicative of it not being a typical high scoring game. Amidst the not so exciting dot balls and singles, I made an effort to look around but quickly lost count of the number of sponsors with their names and logos plastered on every corner of the stadium, field and players’ uniforms. Watching the match in person was a revelation as to cricket being just a cog in the IPL wheel.

The League has very cleverly been designed to use the gentleman’s game and the big names in cricket as an advertising platform and to create a format to rope in mega stars and famous faces as key stakeholders in franchises and thus attract impressive TRP ratings. These ratings obviously translate to humongous sums of money. The IPL is designed to be a constant spectacle – with cheerleaders, blaring music, exciting cricket, adverts, dholwaalas, announcements – it is a concert of sorts. However, cricket sometimes fades away in the background.

Having said that, the IPL also serves as a successful platform to try and test emerging talent – and it is some test, with all the distractions other than cricket.

The IPL is not for the cricket purist. It is more entertainment than sport and thus needs to be treated and perceived that way. Modi has done a fabulous job with literally creating a new segment of entertainment that now competes with cinema – each game lasts for just over 3 hours and attracts men, women and children alike, with the added advantage of seeing the action, celebrities and sporting greats in person.

The IPL is exactly what Vince McMahon failed to do with XFL in the US. I won’t be surprised if the IPL success story has been included as a case study in b-schools the world over. It is, after all, an Incredibly Powerful League of celebrities, sportsmen, politicians and corporate honchos, where everyone’s a winner and even the spectators go home a happy lot.

Oh ! I nearly forgot – Go Mumbai Indians !!!