IPL sizzles and fizzles
Columnist By Kersi Meher-Homji, 20 May 2012 Kersi Meher-Homji is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Cricket, IPL, luke pomersbach, Matthew Hayden
Shane Warne will return to play in Australian in the Big Bash League (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
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When the IPL started in 2008, it was promoted as “cricket with more sixes than maidens”. Now after five crazy years of meaningless matches it has been embroiled in controversies galore.
Call it more court room drama than sport. And all that before you can say Pomersbach!
What an insane week for IPL in its fifth season. A secret operation by an Indian TV channel led to the suspension of five cricketers for allegedly accepting bribes.
It was followed by verbal fights between India’s popular movie star Shah Rukh Khan and officials of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). He was later banned from entering the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Has it ever happened before a celebrity being banned to enter a Stadium? In India movie stars are as much adored as Test greats.
This was climaxed by an IPL player, Luke Pomersbach from Western Australia, being detained by the Delhi police on alleged sexual charges and of assaulting a guest at the team hotel.
I have always said and always will that too much money in too short a time is the root of all evil. And that is exactly what IPL stands for; Intensely Profane License, to ruin one’s principles and integrity.
There is much about the IPL that is worthy of criticism and scrutiny.
True, conflicts and controversies are part and parcel of cricket everywhere these days. But so many nasty incidents in such a short time is stretching it.
Had there been no IPL, the skirmish at the Wankhede Stadium involving Shah Rukh Khan and Pomersbach’s alleged fisticuff when playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore may never have happened.
I must add that Pomersbach is no stranger to rowdy behavior down under. In 2007 he was suspended for drinking before a crucial match against South Australia. In 2009 he was involved in two hit-run incidents when driving over the limit.
In Delhi his playing career has been placed on hold after he was detained by the Delhi police on Friday and charged with assault on a woman and her fiancé. He appeared in a Delhi court, where he was granted interim bail. He is also suspended by his IPL franchise for the rest of this tournament.
“The IPL is not the only sports league in the world offering insane salaries and party lifestyles. European football, the NFL and the NBA, to name a few, are full of stories of the kind the IPL has produced this week” writes Sharda Ugra in CricInfo.
“These leagues are decades old but the IPL, into its fifth year, is just beginning to identify its conflict zones. It is what happens when money, power, alcohol and entertainment meet entitlement.”
Sadly, the IPL won’t disappear because a few sensible individuals are against it. It is instant entertainment wrapped within business which mints money. The players are tempted because of easy money and the crowds lap it up because of the instant gratification.
Look what it has done to Indian cricket. They were the lauded and applauded World Cup champions on 2 April 2011. IPL-4 started a week later and the momentum was lost; some got injured and others lost their focus.
It would be too simplistic to blame IPL for India’s pathetic performances in the Test series in England in 2011 and in Australia in 2011-12.
Of course there were other reasons but if you don’t have fierce focus on your game, the results are disastrous. And quick money-spinning events like IPL snap one’s concentration, the will to succeed and the determination to win.
Just look at India’s talented all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for instance. The 23 year-old was auctioned for two million dollars for IPL 2012 as the one-day series was going on in Australia. Consciously he was trying hard to focus but sub-consciously, his mind appeared elsewhere.
I realise that IPL provides entertainment for the masses and pays the players well, but it should include only cricketers who are on the verge of international representation or those who have retired from international scene like Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Matthew Hayden.
Active Test cricketers should not be diverted by IPL exhibition matches.
You can’t have the cake and eat it too, or is it the other way round?
Kersi is an author of 13 cricket books including The Waugh Twins, Cricket's Great All-rounders,Six Appeal and Nervous Nineties. He writes regularly for Inside Cricket and other publications. He has recently finished his new book on Cricket's Conflicts and Controversies, with a foreword by Greg Chappell.
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The Crowd Says (10) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Explore:
- Cricket, IPL, luke pomersbach, Matthew Hayden
May 20th 2012 @ 10:01am
Robert said | May 20th 2012 @ 10:01am | Report comment
Is the IPL on?Didnt notice
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May 20th 2012 @ 11:17am
sheek said | May 20th 2012 @ 11:17am | Report comment
Hi Kersi,
As you know our good mate Vinay was very black & white when it came to illegal gambling in sport – there was no middle ground for him.
Consequently, such wonderful cricketers as Cronje, Azharuddin, Salim Malik, etc, were “persona non grata”.
I always had sympathy for Cronje especially. I used to argue, or try to argue with Vinay, that if the various cricket associations were ripping off the public by staging meaningless one-day comps ad nauseam, & making a financial killing out of it, then what was essentially wrong with players also seeking their extra cut of the pie?
What divine power makes the possible greed of authorities acceptable, but the possible greed of players unacceptable???
Of course, I know I walk a fine line here – two wrongs don’t make a right. Or solve the problem, it only escalates the stench.
When Cronje was charged & convicted, you didn’t see any introspection from cricket authorities, like – “okay, maybe we’re taking this meaningless one-day comp after another, money rip-off a bit too far”.
What does the IPL do, other than line the pockets with gold of a select few, be they the players, the cricket authorities, the media moguls, the marketing gurus, the sponsor kings, the owners,etc?
I’m yet to see the value added to the game that T20 is supposed to bring. By value I don’t mean ‘money’ but the extra fans, especially new & young ones, & added skills to players.
When one-day cricket arrived, you could see how it benefitted the longer form of the game. Players’ fitness levels & fielding, throwing & catching improved dramatically.
Batsmen had to learn techniques to overcome tight bowling & score runs more quickly. Bowlers learnt that the best way to keep the scoring rate down was to actually get wickets. All this improved test & first class cricket. 4/5 day cricket & one-day cricket went hand in glove.
I remain to be convinced of the long term value of T20 cricket. The BBL in Australia was lauded as a success in terms of making money & getting people to watch. But where is the connective long-term value to traditional forms of cricket?
As you so eloquently said above, “too much money in too short a time is the root of all evil”.
May 20th 2012 @ 3:40pm
Ian Whitchurch said | May 20th 2012 @ 3:40pm | Report comment
Sheek,
There a right way and a wrong way to get more money as an employee.
The right way is to withdraw your labour, either through finding another job, or by going on strike.
The wrong way is to conspire with criminals to rip off your customers.
Cronje et al engaged in the latter.
May 20th 2012 @ 11:44am
Kersi Meher-Homji said | May 20th 2012 @ 11:44am | Report comment
Sheek, I also had disagreements with our dear friend Vinay on gambling and match-throwing issues. I disagreed with him when he said Azharuddin’s records should be removed from Wisden. No doubt, Azhar and Hansie did damage to the good name of the game and they deserved to be punished. But both were marvellous cricketers and earned their status and their stats. Only a few can resist temptations, most can’t.
Another issue I raised in my article was on too many meaningless matches and paying too much to cricketers as IPL and BBL do. Michael Clarke resisted IPL for four and half years and he came up smelling roses. He was not as tired and bored as probably Sachin and Sehwag were. I know I am being too simplistic blaming India’s woes on IPL. There were other reasons too, like age and loss of form and confidence. But the very idea of cricketers being auctioned and being paid huge sums of money is repugnant to me.
Perhaps I’ll change my tune if IPL auctions cricket writers, commisions me to write 1000 words every day and pays $50,000 for 50 days work. Pipe dream or a dreadful nightmare?
May 20th 2012 @ 12:03pm
sheek said | May 20th 2012 @ 12:03pm | Report comment
It’s interesting also Kersi, that the IPL, while still hugely popular & financially successful, is on a gentle (or not so gentle) curve downwards. Most of the indicators – fans attending, TV viewership, sponsorship, general interest, appear to be tracking down.
Both the IPL & BBL appear to me as more glitz than substance. Once the novelty wears off, fans go looking elsewhere. To me, T20 cricket lacks sustainability. It’s a bit like fast food – it fills you momentarily, but a short time later, you are hungry again.
Why, even Bollywood is now no longer scared that the IPL is going to steal their thunder & replace them in the public domain. Bollywood is once again very bullish & no longer frightened by the potential IPL threat.
Mind you, having that arsenal of beautiful Indian models come actresses playing women’s IPL in skimpy outfits might change everything…..!!!!!
May 20th 2012 @ 1:13pm
Atawhai Drive said | May 20th 2012 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
If the IPL is on but nobody (in Australia) televises it, is it really on?
A philosophical question of no particular depth. Yes, it’s on, but it’s even less interesting than usual.
Sad to think that some good West Indies players are in India rather than England at present.
May 20th 2012 @ 3:15pm
sheek said | May 20th 2012 @ 3:15pm | Report comment
AD,
The usual rule of thumb is that if cricket isn’t being televised by Channel 9, then it’s not really happening……….!
May 20th 2012 @ 2:20pm
Kersi Meher-Homji said | May 20th 2012 @ 2:20pm | Report comment
How tragic, Atawhai Drive; cricketers prefer money bags to their country.
Just heard from Bipin Dani, a noted Indian journalist that Luke Pomersbach was falsely arrested on Friday. Dani writes, “This was revealed by his father George Pomersbach, in an exclusive telephonic interview from Perth, Australia, the day after his son’s arrest. ‘My son called us from India on Friday and said ‘Daddy, I am in trouble. I have been wrongly charged for sexual assault’. He wanted us to know before the news broke out in the media. He has received more attention (for the wrong reasons) than the Prime Minister of the country,” remarked the concerned father.
The plot thickens.
May 21st 2012 @ 5:04am
Gulu Ezekiel said | May 21st 2012 @ 5:04am | Report comment
Kersi, good one. the wheels are rapidly falling off the IPL as predicted. latest is a drug bust in mumbai. as for luke’s father claiming his son is innoncent, he would wouldn’t he? there is no question of him being “falsely arrested”, the law is following the right course here and we shall wait and see how it eventually unavels.
May 23rd 2012 @ 2:04am
Rowdy said | May 23rd 2012 @ 2:04am | Report comment
I must be the only one here who quite enjoys watching IPL (it’s on cable in the UK). Obviously I can’t remember who did what the next day, but it’s still fun and some of the outfielding is spectacular. As are some of the cheerleaders.
I think it just has to be looked at as a separate game with different skills required. It’s only really a problem when scheduling means that players have to choose between IPL and their home country games.
Did IPL ruin Idia’s team? I suspect not – their core was ready for retirement anyway. Will it ruin other players? I certainly hope it’s badly affected Steyn, Morkel, Duminy, Kallis etc!