IPL – Incredibly Powerful League (published)

Click to view article published on 'cricketcountry'

Click to view article published on 'mumbaiteamfans'

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 !!!