HSK: Crash Boom Bang Cricket Extravaganza

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This is how a newspaper has termed the Indian Premier League's 44 - day tamasha. To say that it is a stupendous success does not fully convey its achievements. Cricket is the staple sport in India. No other sport can replace it. Many people wonder if it can acquire the status of international football leagues. Sports like football or hockey suffer for want of sponsorships. The success of IPL has proved the sceptics wrong.

With the end of the city - centric 44-day grand show, there is an eerie of emptiness in the evenings of numerous spectators for whom IPL was not just cricket, but fascinating entertainment. Many people wonder if Twenty20 cricket is really cricket. But looking at its success, it is going to stay with us. The history of cricket is full of upheavals and downfalls. But after every crisis, it has emerged stronger and more popular. When the one-day cricket was carved out of test cricket, so as to complete the match in one day and ensure thrill and results, it was thought that test matches meandering over five days and yet not yielding results, would exit not with a bang, but with a whimper. Nothing of that sort happened.

Unique flavor:
It was thought that Twenty - 20 competition was about big hits. It has become the mainstream entertainment option in summer. Its impact was felt on the box office, TV channels, malls and tour operators. It conquered the prime time on TV. It merged with celebrities and business tycoons. It provided cricket a unique flavour. It is amazing to think that IPL has shown that the game has many latent capabilities and opportunities. It calls for certain qualities that were not thought of previously. It has not just remained a sport, subject to certain regulations and demanding certain skills, stamina, patience and so on. IPL demands the ability to make a big score in a very limited time. Copy – book - rules of “dos” and “don'ts” do not work. It demands all the faculties of the player and the team, as well as its skipper. All are required to be alert always. A moment's slip may cost much.

In addition to the big hits coming from the stroke - players, pacemen with control and movement are called into play. Spinners are not just ball - throwers; they need a lot of clarity of thought. Batsmen should not be just stroke - players pinning their faith in inputs learnt through assiduous practice over a long time. They are often to graft different styles and modes of hitting the ball. If five - day or one - day cricket is often highly sophisticated, in Twenty20 natural stroke - makers without resorting to crude methods bring success to the team. Cricket here is not just a matter of hard work. Smart cricketers cash in on missed opportunities. Hard hitters like Pathan would make the target shrink with their blows to the stands.

Stroke – makers:
Twenty 20 was able to bring to the fore many young stroke - makers and pace bowlers as well as spinners. In the normal course, they would not have even an iota of chance to play in international cricket. Now their talent had a free play and their freshness of play pleased the spectators.
Unlike the one - dayer or the five - day cricket, it is often very hard to imagine how the complexion of the game suddenly changes and the team which was sure to win was forced to admit defeat. The friendly fight between Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings was, in a sense, the true picture of this fashionable game. It was a high-octave duel of the highest order.

Last stroke:
Dhoni who is always cool and composed like cucumber, and is a thinking captain, had to pay a heavy penalty for just a slip. Victory was hanging in the balance till the last ball bowled. That was grace ball indeed! It was a very highly thinking and nail - biting finish. Perhaps the gate - money paid by the spectators at the stadium brought them ample dividends through that one last stroke which made the game swing in favour of Rajasthan Royals. Shane Warne's captaincy was magnificent. It was a class by itself. Rajasthan Royals was considered to be a team of under-dogs consisting mostly local players. Shane Warne inspired them, coaxed them, befriended them and became an icon. He led the team to victory! It was a miracle, performed by a human being.

The teams were not formed on the basis of region or nationality. Players from different countries were held together. The loyalty was neither to their nation nor to the region. Each team was a conglomeration of young and old and of different climes. It was truly a cross section of a globalisation? A globalised society. In a globalised world, movement is the essence. Movement of money, material, men and women, technology knowledge and goods. It is said that in a globalised world the loyalty is to the net (internet) and not to anything else. Here, in IPL, the loyalty is to the team and to cricket.

Precious resource:
It was pleasing to note that some or those who achieved success had come from remote corners of India and backward communities. They were geniuses. India's most precious resource is human resource. If only it could be tapped properly, India is sure to top the world. The recently concluded IPL cricket has brought windfall profits to all those who were a part of the show. Cricketers were bought in the auction. They got money. They were rewarded generously.

Broadcast rights:
World Sports Group (WSG) bid 1026 billion dollars or Rs. 4,370 crore for television broadcast rights for 10 years. Sony is its broadcast partner for the Indian subcontinent for the first five years. WSG sold the rights to some unknown agency for rights outside India. In two months, it earned Rs. 400 crore. Sony has collected more than Rs. 350 crore. Its ad sale was much more than what it collected from 72 international matches. The investment in eyeball ad brought unforeseen revenues. Team owners also are happy, irrespective of the team's performance. To cut the long story short, it is money all the way and unalloyed joy for all.

HSK
Courtesy: Star of Mysore