I just keep reading articles after articles in papers here or on Cricinfo. Then I read this today and thought ok thats it. I had to shake off my extreme inertia and blog.
I don't understand why papers in Australia, UK and even media in general are so quick to react negatively to the IPL? Why is the Indian Rupee that bad for cricket? And here I would like to make clear that this post is only focussed on the IPL and not ICL.(which btw I also dont understand why is being made out as the black sheep)
I read Harsha Bhogle's views on the IPL and that I could not agree more with. Has anyone from overseas thanked India for giving them opportunities to ply their trade here? Another brilliant read on the topic was Amit Verma's piece on Cricinfo. If this doesn't shut the negetive vibes nothing will.
The fact is the IPL deserves a chance. Its a concept that is going to take cricket in exciting directions. Who is to say the future is necessarily bad?Who knows because of the franchise/league like concepts, cricket may make headway in regions like US or other countries thus expanding its reach. Why shoot it down before it takes off?
The cricket world needs to understand that the dynamics of the game are changing. And it would be fair to say, so would the tastes of the audiences by and large. Simplest example, the T20 match at the MCG this summer;close to 85000 people came to see it. Thats footy like audiences. Compare those figures to any attendance figure in the tests or ODIs here and you would definitely get the answer.
For some reason statements like these
"
...the true lovers of cricket, and of Indian cricket more especially, must
hope that the IPL will fail as a commercial proposition. It offers,
arguably, a degraded form of cricket; and it will promote, certainly, a
degradation of character..."
that Mr Guha, whose articles on cricket I really like (normally), has used here, really pisses me off. I always thought of myself as a "true" lover of cricket, but I guess I cant use that tag anymore since I have unabashedly brandished my support for the T20 format.Damn!!
Am I a true Indian cricket fan then. Hmm lets see. The IPL gives the Indian audiences a chance to see the big names turning out for their cities. See their performances up close with more frequency than normal. Imagine Shane Warne coaching a leggie in Jaipur, whilst he is there on IPL duty. Oh that would be horrid for Indian cricket wouldn't it! So yes IPL is evil, the very fact that Indian audiences can watch Warne, Kallis, McGrath, Lee, ... is not going to be good for Indian cricket. So I guess I can peacefully sleep knowing I AM a "true" Indian cricket fan. Yes I am hoping the IPL fails Mr Guha.
I don't understand why papers in Australia, UK and even media in general are so quick to react negatively to the IPL? Why is the Indian Rupee that bad for cricket? And here I would like to make clear that this post is only focussed on the IPL and not ICL.(which btw I also dont understand why is being made out as the black sheep)
I read Harsha Bhogle's views on the IPL and that I could not agree more with. Has anyone from overseas thanked India for giving them opportunities to ply their trade here? Another brilliant read on the topic was Amit Verma's piece on Cricinfo. If this doesn't shut the negetive vibes nothing will.
The fact is the IPL deserves a chance. Its a concept that is going to take cricket in exciting directions. Who is to say the future is necessarily bad?Who knows because of the franchise/league like concepts, cricket may make headway in regions like US or other countries thus expanding its reach. Why shoot it down before it takes off?
The cricket world needs to understand that the dynamics of the game are changing. And it would be fair to say, so would the tastes of the audiences by and large. Simplest example, the T20 match at the MCG this summer;close to 85000 people came to see it. Thats footy like audiences. Compare those figures to any attendance figure in the tests or ODIs here and you would definitely get the answer.
For some reason statements like these
"
...the true lovers of cricket, and of Indian cricket more especially, must
hope that the IPL will fail as a commercial proposition. It offers,
arguably, a degraded form of cricket; and it will promote, certainly, a
degradation of character..."
that Mr Guha, whose articles on cricket I really like (normally), has used here, really pisses me off. I always thought of myself as a "true" lover of cricket, but I guess I cant use that tag anymore since I have unabashedly brandished my support for the T20 format.Damn!!
Am I a true Indian cricket fan then. Hmm lets see. The IPL gives the Indian audiences a chance to see the big names turning out for their cities. See their performances up close with more frequency than normal. Imagine Shane Warne coaching a leggie in Jaipur, whilst he is there on IPL duty. Oh that would be horrid for Indian cricket wouldn't it! So yes IPL is evil, the very fact that Indian audiences can watch Warne, Kallis, McGrath, Lee, ... is not going to be good for Indian cricket. So I guess I can peacefully sleep knowing I AM a "true" Indian cricket fan. Yes I am hoping the IPL fails Mr Guha.
