Jhakas | Sanjay Jha
I write this column because everyone's toast, tea and truffle these days, Mr Lalit Modi of the BCCI said so loudly himself, that the T20 IPL was essentially a smart copy-cat of the famous English Premier League football. Modi, if he can at all look beyond ballooning short-term cash inflows into BCCI, may well be advised to pay serious heed to a certain Michael Platini.
Platini, the star football player of France of olden times, has called a spade a spade and belittled the club culture in England, which has now become a massive financial management exercise. Raise debt, raise valuations, raise additional debt, further raise valuations, sell out! Expensive equity pays for cheap debt by parting with a pittance! Quite a business model, that! Platini has vehemently castigated English football, for their commercial obsessions, and wondered aloud, as to why should anyone miss England during this year's Euro which kicked off yesterday in Switzerland. Isn't it paradoxical that the two top teams which competed in the Champions League, Manchester United and Chelsea are both from quintessential England? And that England has not even qualified for the Euro? Continue reading below
Since everyone I have met and recently been talking to has termed IPL as an 'unqualified success', I guess it will be a futile exercise on my part to argue that this glorious assessment may be a trifle pre-mature. But since currently insanity prevails in India, and being termed a 'purist' is meant to make you appear as an orthodox bore, I will wait for another day to buttress my argument. Mr Modi represents BCCI, which is supposed to be the responsible body with a single objective; make India the top-most playing country in the world, in every conceivable form of the game.
If the IPL cash bonanza and the BCCI profits helps us beat Australia, and become numero uno in Tests and ODIs, I am willing to sing hosannas for IPL T20 till my beard goes purple. I promise, and this one is for perennial internet archives. But if not, why shouldn't Mr Modi, and Sharad Pawar and cohorts be shown the door? If Charu Sharma of Bangalore Royal Challengers can be unceremoniously dumped in just a few weeks by a demanding boss because of 'perceived' performance lapses, why are we in India waiting patiently for BCCI to get cracking; why are we not doing report card and a quarterly appraisal of BCCI, and demanding accountability? Why should we allow a certain faction of BCCI to govern virtually in perpetuity, if they have failed in delivering the goods?
Mr Modi, the bottomline is not that magical number below statements of your questionable society, but whether India has delivered in official matches in a dispassionately measured manner? For all it's worth, the ICC ranking will have to suffice for the moment. I predict that IPL success in Y2 will be crucially dependent on India's performance in other formats of the game up to March 2009.
My bet, if India does not retain the next T20 World Cup title, there will be enough critics thirsting for revenge. In a sense, by hyping up the 'Indian' Premier League Mr Modi may have stolen transitory thunder, but the acid test still lies ahead. How will the Indian public react when India gets knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy, T20 or World Cup early, even if a Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar or MS Dhoni team may be winning the IPL Leagues? What if international rankings drop on account of poor bilateral and tri-series?
I raise this point for the simple reason that post-IPL expect drop-outs, as is already happening in the Bangladesh series and the Asia Cup. Of course, unlike football, Mr Modi has the advantage of only 6-7 seriously competitive countries to worry about, but despite that are we really anywhere close to being the best? Above all, there is one element that NO ONE seems to have factored in.
Just like in EPL, what will happen when overseas buyers with no local interests other than pure ROI take controlling stake in local franchisees, dictate terms to BCCI, force changes, buy and sell teams like we do used shoes, and change team composition at will? Why can't a rich Saudi Arabian prince or a Russian arms-dealer do a summer sale purchase of, say the Deccan Chargers Hyderabad team, rope in Tendulkar to play just as a player under Michael Clarke, and play a few international exhibition games in the Middle East or Moscow to celebrate a personal anniversary?
I don't know what you think, but the BCCI has already diluted it's ownership significantly through the franchise route. It has also diluted the game as a process, which will force tournament re-scheduling, change in formats, affect inter and intra-country board relationships, and compel competing owners to exploit revenue options for quick returns.
Player burn-outs are inevitable, as will the short-term approach to a cricketing career itself. Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar can rest on their wonderful laurels. Some of their records will never be broken again. Because there will be no one left to play above the age of 28-30. Modi has opened a Pandora's box, simply because he was in a terrible haste to captain the cash cow affair and earn brownie points.
He may have won the first round, from available evidence. But even as the world celebrates the IPL 'success', I feel that the moment of truth will arrive sooner than later. Or maybe later than sooner. But it will arrive. And when it does, truth usually wins.
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