How will 10th IPL cope with this drop in star quality?
Chetan Narula casts a critical eye over the IPL and waits for new stars to emerge to make up for the absence of big names
March and April are usually months of razzmatazz for Indian cricket. Never mind the international schedule, there is a hectic build-up towards the annual Indian Premier League.
News and rumours fly thick and fast in equal measure, and they are not so much about cricketers, but various franchise owners and their BCCI relationship.
How are the star owners preparing for the new season? Are they going to be present at the matches? Which ex-cricketers have been roped in as coaches? Is there a new theme song coming up for the tournament? What are the new colours? Which celebrity models are going to anchor the show and be ever-present on our screens for six weeks? Who is going to perform at the grand opening ceremony?
‘Grand’ is the key word. Ever since the inception of this league in 2007-08, it is the way BCCI have envisaged, promoted and indeed operated this tournament. Lalit Modi was the boss back then. A shrewd businessman and cricket administrator, his lifestyle was the very epitome of ‘living large’. It was no surprise, when the IPL was born out of India’s 2007 success in the inaugural World T20 in South Africa, everything about it – from celebrity involvement to ownership, to player auctions and contracts, to post-match parties – reflected Modi’s opulence.
It was a magnificent time to be an Indian cricket administrator. Some say, the BCCI were more powerful than even some government representatives. After all, who can forget how Modi defied the Indian home minister in 2009, and transported the league to South Africa in a short time-span, all in a huff to not clash match-dates with general elections.
This was a marker of BCCI’s financial muscle. A domestic league went international, the Indian government was embarrassed, and world cricket stood up to take notice. Ever since, there has been no denying the pull of franchise cricket – and indeed the IPL.
South Africa and Australia followed the model; Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh weren’t far behind. West Indies started losing their gifted players to franchise-cricket, and decided to take the plunge themselves. England defied this norm, but they are slowly starting to come around, late entrants as always, in keeping with their outlook towards limited-overs’ cricket in general.
Something else happened thereafter, and it has changed the outlook of Indian cricket. The 2013 spot-fixing saga was a watershed moment in IPL history, so much so that the very existence of this tournament had been under constant threat for at least two seasons thereafter.
The question of ‘conflict of interest’ plagued its very core, as investigations revealed, and subsequently the Supreme Court of India has unravelled corrupt administrators’ vice-like grip on its affairs in the past six months or so.
Yes, finally the ‘grand’ express has come to a screeching halt. It has been noticed in the everyday functioning of the BCCI during this long home season, when ousted administrators have tried to throw a spanner in the works while New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia were visiting here. They didn’t even try hurting the IPL though, for who kills the goose that lays a golden egg?
Even so, the usual humdrum atmosphere had been missing from this year’s build-up. Usually preparations begin earnestly in late autumn, but they were on hold until early spring, thanks largely to the Supreme Court’s final order coming on January 6 and the Committee of Administrators taking charge of affairs thereafter. To sum it up, this has been a hastily put-together IPL season, albeit the wheels aren’t expected to come off.
Yet the IPL – with its mega-show status derailed – stands at the cusp of a testing time, for it now has a very popular rival in the Big Bash. The Australian T20 league has grown exponentially and their strategy to entice the population – in particular young fans – has caught the eye. The BBL is less flashy and more centred on cricket, whilst celebrityculture has been the big selling point of the IPL. Does it work anymore though?
‘No’ is the resounding answer as different IPL franchises stare at a lengthy injury list. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, R Ashwin, Murali Vijay, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Angelo Mathews, AB de Villiers, Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav. A few of them – Kohli, AB, Jadeja,Yadav – are expected to recover soon and join the league as the season progresses. There is no doubt, however, that some sheen has been lost by these initial absences.
Star power of Indian players was the other pillar for the IPL, and never has the league known such a fractured start in this regard. As many as six first-choice India players were missing as the tournament kicked off on Wednesday, while the overseas absentees had all previously been pivotal contributors.
It has made for an intriguing challenge, not only for the team managements to find able replacements, but also for the tournament as a whole. With star power reduced, will there be as much crowd pull?
What happens when Royal Challengers Bangalore play at home, and Kohli, Rahul and AB are missing? Delhi Daredevils saw a leader in Duminy
IPL has provided players with a world stage on which to perform. The wheel keeps turning and new names step up
and his replacement in Mathews too, but neither is available. Then there are Mustafizur Rahman (pulled out by the Bangladesh board) and Andre Russell (banned). This is not to be shrugged off lightly, like the staging of eight ‘small’ opening ceremonies (at the first home games of each team) to make up for the lack of a ‘grand’ opening spectacle.
In that aspect the IPL has found its true calling, for it has been a glamorous launchpad for various cricketers, both domestic and foreign. It has provided them a world stage on which to perform, while earning big bucks. Injuries or not, the wheel keeps turning and new faces step up.
Say, someone like Tymal Mills who would have been otherwise worried about his prospects after careerthreatening condition. Or, Colin de Grandhomme, called up at the last moment by Kolkata Knight Riders to replace Russell. How about the first Afghanistan players – Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi – to feature in the IPL?
Perhaps the most pertinent example of this is Royal Challengers’ Mandeep Singh. Rising through the grades, the youngster was slated to take Chris Gayle’s spot last season when the bighitting West Indian was dropped owing to poor form. A freak injury put paid to that. Instead, Rahul grabbed his chance, scoring 397 runs including four halfcenturies, going on to cement his place in the national side across formats.
With Kohli and Rahul missing at present, the Royal Challengers will again turn to Mandeep for one of their openers’ slots, and he will look to make the most of this ‘opportunity’.
In its tenth edition, nothing resonates with IPL more than that last word.