Grumble with Gaurav | Gaurav Kalra
The fan is cricket's cotton wool. It is the wide eyed admiration of a 12-year-old standing in line for his hero's autograph that ambition is spawned. It is the devotion with which the corporate executive funnels secret savings away for a trip to follow the team around that the game draws strength. It is in the patience of millions to endure the cacophony of grotesque advertising and shrill commentary to stay glued to the action that cricket draws its commercial vibrancy from.
The fan is the protective shield that nurtures the sport. Under his protective indulgence and obsession, cricket flowers. Not just is he being short-changed today, the fan is being brushed disdainfully aside. Lost in the stealth of million dollar figures, shadowy operators, demagogues, sweat equities and naked power play, the game is creating India's newest caste divide. The haves against the have nots. Where soon enough the marginalised fan won't be out of place to demand reservation lest he be cast aside forever. Continue reading below
While a sport needs the marketplace for sustenance, it must never allow those to sneak in whose sole agenda is the pursuit and creation of wealth. Cricket must guard stoutly against being a vehicle for the greedy to encash its popularity, yet gnaw away at its roots. The playing of the game must remain the reason for cricket to survive. Not so it provides a platform for conmen and seedy consortiums.
Steve Waugh recently asked on a CNN-IBN programme, "How much money do you really need in life?" Simple words that lie at the core of this debate. Why Mr. Modi, did we need two more teams in the first place? Weren't eight enough? Was the League not large enough already? Hadn't fans across the country already invested emotionally in teams of their choice? Does adding two more teams really enlarge the fan base?
Why do we need to play 34 more matches next year? Weren't 60 enough already? So what if the IPL is richer by 3000 crore? Twenty teams play the English Premier League over nearly nine months. Ten teams will sweat it out across the length of this massive country next year in peak summer over a mere seven weeks. Isn't this a theatre of the absurd? Tune in on Tuesday at 4:00 pm to watch Chennai vs Pune. Really, why? Must we not recognise that the new teams are an unwanted addition, choking further at an already clogged schedule. And inviting the dodgy operators that you now so grandly claim to be stamping out?
Here is a real scenario that the IPL in its all its arrogance fails to fathom. In 2011, they plan to play the first IPL game within a couple of days of the World cup final. Yes, the WORLD CUP FINAL. So imagine this. India win the World Cup. Sachin Tendulkar announces his retirement after making a century in the final. How do we celebrate and say goodbye? Not with a ticker tape parade on Marine Drive. Not with road shows across the country where grateful fans can relish the moment and savour their heroes. Not with a reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan where the tri-colour flutters and we all stand up to the chords of the national anthem with swollen chests and great pride. Instead, the players rush off to wear the jerseys of their franchises. To dance with their fim star owners at promotional events. To film meaningless adverts. To create a cosmetic buzz that an embedded media greedily laps up. After all, the fan and his joy be damned, we have valuations to protect and a show to get on the road. Shame on the IPL for justifying such crassness.
Mr. Tharoor, for all his eloquence and passion for bringing cricket to Kerala must also ask himself, was this the right vehicle? Perhaps his devotion should have been directed towards finding the right mentor for the 16-year-old wicket-keeper who he referred to as the next Dhoni? Perhaps his persuasive skills were better used to influence exisitng team owners to bid for Kerala players at the next auction. SRK would listen to the erudite Mr. Tharoor now, wouldn't he? Perhaps, the honourable MP was better off finding funding for a new stadium so cricket wouldn't have to be played on a football ground every time it heads to Kochi? Perhaps, Mr. Tharoor was better served influencing the Malayalee diaspora in the Middle East to invest into an academy with state of the art facilities in his constituency.
Ahhh, but that is only the talk of the naive. An academy is no place for Ms. Pushkar to "brand-build", as her claimed expertise suggests. Her "Sweat equity" would be worth nothing now would it if a local boy plays for India, from an academy she and Mr. Tharoor helped set up? Gravy trains masquerading as noble causes can be nauseating, and all the English language skills in the world can't dissipate their stench.
The pillaging has to stop and the game must return where it is most protected - in the warmth and comfort of the fans embrace. Let the fans pay what they can with their hard earned money. Buy T-shirts, pay subscription fees to watch on TV, buy tickets standing in line and drink the cola their hero asks them to. What that honest money is worth is what the game must live with. What its players must get by with. Learn the lesson from all of this. Cricket needs the money yes, but the money it needs cannot stink or it will besmirch our game beyond repair. Please Mr. Manohar and Mr. Pawar can we have our game back?
(Watch CNN-IBN live on your iPad. IBN7 and IBN Lokmat too. Download the IBNLive for iPad app. It's free. Click here to download now)
