Gilly and Haydo were the success stories of the IPL

Greg, Warne was undoubdtedly a genius on the cricket field and an oaf off it. Another Warne quote: " It took me a long time to appreciate Indian Culture" Paraphrased thats Warne saying "I didn't realise there was so much money in India" Spin us another one Warney. An oppurtunist who knows which side his naan is buttered. There will be pressure on Clarke,Hughes,Haddin and Johnson to play in the IPL next year. A million bucks of pressure. There is little to be gained by placing a moral judgement on cricketers accepting large sums of money. For too long administrators have undersold TV rights and kept cricketers poor. The future of cricket is in the hands of the current generation. History will judge their legacy. In the meantime lets enjoy the ride.

Here is Shane Warne speaking before the start of this IPL (as quoted in The Roar, so it must be accurate!): “If the ICC had any common sense, they would create a window for the IPL,” World Cup winner Warne said on Wednesday in Johannesburg’s Star newspaper. “No international cricket should be played in June,” added the 39-year-old former Test world record-holder for most wickets. “The IPL could then be cut to four weeks, which would allow all international players to play in it. “The IPL is a wonderful advertisement for the game. If there was any common sense, the BCCI (Indian board) and the ICC would then compensate all the unions with some money for allowing their players to play in the IPL.” I find that Warne's formula here comes closest to pleasing everyone, from Kersi right through to Brian & Vinay. People look at Warne's off-field behavior and think he's an idiot through and through. Well he is in off-field matters. But when it comes to cricket, I have always found him to be a genius of common sense. And I use the word genius here deliberately.

I agree with VInay IPL will grow and grow. I just hope that everyone remains sensible so instead of 3 various World Cups and Super Series each year we end up with two reputable forms of the game T20 & Test Cricket. As long as T20 only takes the place of ODI I think its a positive.

Very perceptive comments, Greg. Point taken. I should have mentioned Nannes. As far as Australian selectors are concerned, it is a case of "No no, Nannes." Although an IPL opponent, I realise that it has helped Indian cricket besides making overseas retirees rich. A super stimulus package! But holding IPL twice a year is an overkill. It should be T20 World Cup every odd year viz. in 2007, 2009, 2011... and IPL every even year viz. in 2008, 2010, 2012... Brett and Vinay, thanks for reassuring me that the end is not nigh. Not now. But by 2020, who knows, it may be all Twenty20. HELP!

I would also like to take (mild) issue with Kersi's statement that "Apart from Andrew Symonds [and Gilchrist and Hayden], other Australians did not shine." The bowling attack of the winning Deccan Chargers was led by Ryan Harris, whom most Australians would regard as about no. 10 in our fast-bowling pecking order. For most people, Dirk Nannes was one of the "finds of the tournament", and he ended up leading Delhi's attack (the team that dominated the round robin), as well as being one of their first selections. Brad Hodge was one of Kolkata's few shining lights, ending up 8th on the run aggregate list for the tournament (ahead of notables like Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Sangakkara, Gambhir, and so on). I hear that most Indian cricket experts cannot believe that the Australian selectors ignore Hodge and Nannes for higher honours - I agree! David Warner ended up breaking up the formidable Delhi opening pair of Gambhir and Sehwag so that he could have a place in the side. (Incredibly, Delhi left out Vettori so that they could do this - what idiocy!) Lee Carseldine, rated highly by Shane Warne, continued his form as Australian domestic T20 Player of the Year for Rajasthan Royals. This is all just off the top of my head. I know that lots of other Australians - Henriques, Quiney, Katich, Bailey, Ronchi, Harwood, Pomersbach, etc. - took to the field for varying numbers of matches and with mostly very modest success. But at least they were there and participating, which is not bad when one considers that all the just-named players aren't rated in Australia's top 15 by the selectors. I should also point out that the nature of T20 - hit-and-giggle, relatively small scores, etc. - is such that one cannot judge stats by normal standards. For example, a batting average of 20 for someone who comes in at 5 or 6 is actually really good for T20. Finally, I agree that none of these Australians captured the imagination in the way that young Indians like Pandey and Kohli did in the end (huge talents for India's future). But one shouldn't forget that this is primarily an Indian tournament, so it follows that it is set up for unknown Indians to shine, as opposed to unknowns from other countries.

The goose laying the golden egg will be killed. Too much of a good thing, less is more etc etc. In 5 years perhaps, and its only a perhaps, people will be bored by people trying to hit every ball for 6. I love cricket but I am bored with this version of the game already. In a year will you remember a great inning or a superb spell of bowling?

I would just like to point out that in the two IPLs so far: * Both have been won by teams with a talismanic Australian captain (Warne, Gilchrist) * Both tournaments have had Australians as man of the tournament (Watson, Gilchrist; it probably should have been Hayden this time) * Of 4 series awards so far (last year there was also best batsman, S Marsh, and best bowler, S Tanvir), 3 have gone to Australians Being overly patriotic, one could note that in the final, one team had 3 Australians, the other 0. Which do you think won? Also interesting: there seems a disconnect between this dominance and Australia's extremely modest record in the T20I arena. Dare I mention Andrew Hilditch?

Kersi,cricket as we know it will never die. The King is dead. Long live the King. IPL has taken cricket from being a commercial reality to a commercial Imperative. Maximising returns for shareholders is alegitimate concern for businesses. So the IPL is a business and the franchise owners are the shareholders. In time the franchises will float on the stock exchange and the public can also become shareholders. This is the model of the EPL and the NBA. Some businesses actually add value to the community and are proactive with the welfare of its employees. The cricketers participating in IPL are not unhappy. It is good they are paid well. It has also opened up more oppurtunities for umpires,fitness practsioners and coaches. It is inevitable that IPL will morph into two and conceivably three a year. The money behind the BCCI will ensure other Boards doff their collective caps. I have faith in the intellect of the Captains like Jayawardne,Ponting,Dhoni and Smith. They all espouse a balance between the three forms of the game and administrators would do well to listen to them. Twenty/20 properly controlled may actually help Test Cricket speed up the overs and the money generated if used to improve facilites like covers ,drainage and spectator comfort will be a help. Dont despair,Kersi the Ashes are not far away. vinay

Kersi, I don't quite think the end of cricket is nigh, but if the IPL becomes the main international form of Twenty20, then that's maybe not a bad thing. You might recall I've written a couple of pieces in recent months questioning the need and entertainment value from the one-off T20Is tacked onto the end or start of ODI tournaments, and likewise, the real need for a T20 World Cup. I wonder if, in an already crowded cricket calendar, the IPL could replace all the meaningless Internationals, and based on the success of the tournament being run in South Africa, run the IPL as something of a travelling circus, in different countries every year, or every other year. Sheek will hate me saying this, given our lengthy discussions about our hate of non-geographically-labelled Super 14 teams, but the IPL teams could drop their 'Kolkata', 'Mumbai', et al tags, and even change to the International Premier League. Relax the rules on the number of international players in the XI, but keep the number of U23 players (but not restrict them to India). Make it a truly international tournament, and bring in the very best players in the world alongside the very best up and comers. I wonder...

Kersi, I have another way to look at this. We can construe IPL twice in different countries as an intrusion into other sports as well. This is welcome news for die-hard cricket fans and may be the way to make cricket a world game like soccer or basketball. I assume there is currently no salary cap in IPL. If they introduce salary cap like NRL then the IPL teams will be forced to take in players from second-tier domestic tournaments. Cricket may evolve like Rubgy - IPL will be the "Super 14" where the players are financially tied to and the other matches will be Test Matches. I am not a cricket fan but it looks like Lalit Mody is a leader unlike other cricket administrators who are merely administrators.