IPL is a gimmick, irrelevant and not good for cricket
Columnist By Kersi Meher-Homji, 19 May 2011 Kersi Meher-Homji is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Andrew Symonds, Cricket, Harbhajan Singh, IPL, Twenty20
Call me a fuddy-duddy but IPL leaves me cold. And this is despite my favourites, Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, and Virender Sehwag, among others playing.
First the good points of IPL: you see the best players from yesterday, today and tomorrow in action.
Old ‘foes’ like Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds play side by side for the same team, Mumbai Indians, their misunderstandings probably forgotten.
Youngsters have a chance to play with, and against, legends. Indian rookies have learnt an enormous amount from overseas legends such as Warney, Gilly, Watto, Gayle, Lee, Tait, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, and Vettori.
The record 206 run stand between Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh for King’s XI Punjab on Tuesday night brightened up Australian cricketers’ listless performance in IPL 2011 so far.
Now the minuses:
Who cares as to who wins?
Those ten sides are neither national nor State teams. They are franchises made up of auctioned cricketers.
Bill O’Reilly described Packer cricket in late 1970s as a circus with clowns (players wearing colour clothing). But at least they were playing for their countries. I shudder to think how he would have described the IPL cricketers!
Talented IPL players provide entertainment galore.
And crowds lap it up. But TV ratings are falling this year in India, with the average rating for the first 37 games down 25% from the previous year.
But it is not all bad news for IPL this year, as the cumulative number of people who have watched live the tournament this season has already surpassed last season’s total.
As far as I know, pay TV is not showing IPL-2011 in Australia. No one Down Under seems to care two hoots for this franchise razzmatazz.
This is despite a strong representation of Australians players.
As many as 32 Australians (an average of 3.2 Australians per franchise) have participated in IPL-2011, with two as captains – Warne leading Rajasthan Royals and Gilchrist, King’s XI Punjab.
Six Australians are coaches of different franchises: Geoff Lawson, Geoff Marsh, Michael Bevan, Darren Lehman, Dav Whatmore and Greg Shipperd.
But with the exceptions of Shaun Marsh, Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hodge, the performances of the Australians have been disappointing.
In batting, only three out of top 15 run-getters are Australians: Shaun Marsh on the top with 491 runs, Mike Hussey at no. 7 and Gilchrist at no. 14. Six have scored centuries; one of them is an Australian (Gilchrist 106).
On Tuesday, Gilchrist (106 with eight fours and nine sixes) and Marsh (79 not out with seven fours and five sixes) added 206 runs for the second wicket. This is the highest partnership in the four years of IPL for any wicket and the only partnership of over 200 runs.
In bowling, only two out of the 25 top wicket-takers are Australians: Doug Bollinger at no.7 and Shane Warne at no. 15. Four have taken 5 wickets in an innings, not one Aussie among them.
The saving grace is Brad Hodge who heads the bowling average with 8.83 in 13 matches.
In wicket-keeping, Gilchrist is the third on the list, having made 12 dismissals (9 caught and 3 stumped in 13 matches) after Kumar Sangakkara (17+2 in 13 matches) and Robin Uthappa (11+3 in 12).
Gilchrist’s King’s XI Punjab is joint fourth out of 10 teams and Warne’s Rajasthan Royals seventh.
So Marsh, Gilchrist and Hodge apart, Australians have a disappointing record so far.
As if this was not bad enough, Rajasthan Royals decided to take disciplinary action against its captain Warne last Saturday after an internal probe found the legendary Australian guilty of publicly insulting Sanjay Dixit, the secretary of his franchise.
“The player (Warne) has accepted the action that we have taken and apologised for any distress caused,” Rajasthan Royals’ CEO Sean Morris said.
“We have told all our players that we will not tolerate colourful language towards anyone and in particular not a senior officer,” Morris added.
The plot thickens.
But why this hoo-hah? Does IPL really matter?
It’s a money-making gimmick, irrelevant and not good for cricket. If the standard of play is not outstanding, ‘bring on the controversies’ is the mantra. It sells.
Now the IPL epidemic will soon become a pandemic with Sri Lanka starting their SLPL, England perhaps their EPL, and Australia their international Big Bash.
The ball is in your court, Roarers.
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- Explore:
- Andrew Symonds, Cricket, Harbhajan Singh, IPL, Twenty20
May 19th 2011 @ 3:33am
Ali Khan said | May 19th 2011 @ 3:33am | Report comment
I would like to add that IPL is exactly what cricket needs, i can assure you the ratings will go skyrocket next season if they allow players from Pakistan to participate, and they probably will because they know this too.
From a viewers perspective it makes sense, people (at least as much as i know) would prefer watching a match that ends within 3-5 hours and provides good entertainment, just like soccer in Europe or nfl/nba in the US. 20/20 games where families or friends could get together on weekends and enjoy the games and bar b q etc.., it will take sometime for cricket to get there but IPL has the potential of becoming the English Premier League of cricket when the idea settles in, i can only see better times for cricket. For Purists you always have test cricket, i am not sure if the 50 over version will survive though but like you said people had the same reaction to 50 overs cricket in the beginning. So lets be patient and let cricket evolve.
Maybe the more interesting thing would be to integrate teams from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh into IPL, expand it a little bit and that should generate more interest. but like i said lets allow these leagues and formats to evolve, the fans have all to gain from it.
cheers!!
May 19th 2011 @ 7:09am
sheek said | May 19th 2011 @ 7:09am | Report comment
Gidday Kersi,
Yes, IPL is a money-making gimmick soon to be imitated in Australia by the BBL. Unfortunately, when money speaks, that’s all that seems to matter.
The other unfortunate thing is that T20 will be the test cricket of the future…..
May 19th 2011 @ 7:48am
Kersi Meher-Homji said | May 19th 2011 @ 7:48am | Report comment
Hope not, Sheek.
Ali Khan, I also enjoy T20 cricket – especially when played between countries. The reason I am against IPL is that the cricketers are playing only for money. They are not representing their country or their State. I have mentioned the good points of IPL also. But the bad points by far outweigh the good points.
IPL has a window of 7 weeks so far. If other countries also play different PLs will cricketers have time to play 3-4 day domestic / international first-class matches and 5-day Tests?
As I said the epidemic may turn into a pandemic.
ICC Has to put its foot down and NOW!
May 19th 2011 @ 11:38am
sheek said | May 19th 2011 @ 11:38am | Report comment
Kersi,
It’s perhaps (sometimes) an unfortunate part of life that a population’s tastes change over time.
Pre-WW2 tests in Australia were played out to a finish. That means 6, 7, 8 days…..
Even as late as the early 70s, the last test of a series was allowed to go into a 6th day to achieve a result. Since then, tests have been capped at 5 days with the rest day also disappearing (thankfully).
Victor Trumper used to bat only long enough to set his team on the path to a big total. Don Bradman despised this attitude, believing the bowlers must be grounded into the turf. The age when spin bowlers were the trumps of their team eventually gave way to fast men being all the rage.
I was one of the young folk who welcomed one day cricket in the late 70s. Not to replace test cricket, but to compliment it. Now, the young folk (apparently) are engaged with T20.
Today’s player generation still talk about how they value test cricket, while chasing T20 gold. It’s likely the very next player generation will dispense with this pretense & admit they’re only interested in chasing T20 gold!
Perhaps as soon as 50 years from now, tastes will have changed to the point where test cricket will be seen as an anachronism from another time, another era, old, ancient, dated. Dead.
But it won’t worry us Kersi, as we will have moved on to another place ….. !
May 19th 2011 @ 8:03am
Lolly said | May 19th 2011 @ 8:03am | Report comment
Kersi, players move around in county cricket in England and state cricket in Aus. There isn’t that much purity in terms of representing your state.
May 19th 2011 @ 8:26am
Kersi Meher-Homji said | May 19th 2011 @ 8:26am | Report comment
Lolly,
Having upto three imports is acceptable. But a whole competition made up of 90% auctioned cricketers is not.
You play for say Surrey for three months and come back later for Surrey is OK.
But if you play for Delhi Daredevils for 7 weeks and then turn up for Chennai Super Kings (because they have bought you for more dollars) the next year is not.
There is nothing wrong in playing for money but these contests are similar to circuses – entertaining and of high standard -but of no relevance.
This is my opinion.
May 19th 2011 @ 8:27am
Jeet said | May 19th 2011 @ 8:27am | Report comment
It is not good for cricket because Australians do not care which Indian team wins? Explain that logic please…What does that have anything to do with its influence on cricket. I would argue the contrary.
What you are forgetting is that the IPL (and comps like the Big Bash) bring new eyeballs to the game, which can only be good for test cricket. Unfortunately, test cricket is not the ideal marketing tool for cricket – it is very much an acquired taste. Yes, some good series will always result in converts, but these are rare.
I myself started watching cricket about 10 years ago through ODIs, and now appreciate test cricket way more than ODIs. I’m sure there will be countless such fans who get into cricket through T20s, and start appreciating test cricket…which can only be good for it.
June 1st 2011 @ 6:29pm
YourMaj said | June 1st 2011 @ 6:29pm | Report comment
Did you even read the article? Of course it matters. The Australian fanbase is not to be dismissed so lightly. Passion counts. IPL is saturation to the max. Go franchise! Yeah. Good luck with the Big Bash. Worth a crack I guess but Punter’s here aren’t so easily won over. Give us a solid test or ODI any day. Test cricket will survive here. Why? Tue Ashes is THE preeminent cricket contest on the globe. Period. India and the IPL can never, ever take that away.
May 19th 2011 @ 8:52am
Kersi Meher-Homji said | May 19th 2011 @ 8:52am | Report comment
You make sense, Jeet, and I appreciate your comments.
But IPL is just a start. If more countries start their IPL versions when will have time to play / watch first-class and Test cricket? Cricket is at a cross road.
If IPL stands for International PL and not Indian PL, I’d be happy. Have a window of 7weeks in the calendar and stage it in different countries. But five PLs by different countries a year will make it to over 35 weeks of PL cricket. THIS IS MY WORRY. Hope roarers understand my point of view.
I am talking of 2016 not 2011.
May 19th 2011 @ 2:58pm
lopati said | May 19th 2011 @ 2:58pm | Report comment
My impression from the few fans, including Indians is the I in IPL hardly stands for “Indian” as well, many see IPL teams as rich mens toys and not much more. True many other sports are moving that way, players are serving and gaining status for their masters, the spectacle is provided primarily to enrich the masters more than please the fans (an upset is a crowd puller less than a crowd pleaser), in short not that much unlike Roman gladiatorial contests.
May 19th 2011 @ 8:54am
Wall-Nut said | May 19th 2011 @ 8:54am | Report comment
It’s no gimmick and yes I’ll call you a fuddy duddy. 20/20 has brought a whole new bunch of supporters and money that weren’t there before.
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May 19th 2011 @ 8:55am
Kersi Meher-Homji said | May 19th 2011 @ 8:55am | Report comment
Now to something different.
Shane Warne has been fined $US50,000 for his misconduct in the IPL match last Saturday. Is this the highest monetary fine any cricketer has received?
May 19th 2011 @ 12:07pm
Angadh Oberoi said | May 19th 2011 @ 12:07pm | Report comment
Actually Harbhajan Singh was fined his match fee for an entire season for slapping Indian team mate Sreesanth, which equated to approx US$900,000
May 19th 2011 @ 9:03am
Fivehole said | May 19th 2011 @ 9:03am | Report comment
From what i’ve seen so far on youtube (watched highlights of the first 45 matches) Mike Hussey has been going well too Kersi.