Final thoughts on IPL 2.0

Before this blog and my thoughts become overrun by all things IPL, here is the final dose of post-IPL thoughts, promise.

• At the end of the day, the IPL is a commercial profit driven enterprise. So let us not mix national pride with it. So the shifting of IPL 2 to South Africa should not dent our pride in any way but merely highlight how much is at stake for all the parties involved. Modi will ship out the whole circus to the Moon if their newly discovered inhabitants were to provide a more profitable scenario for him. In short, its all about money honey.

• No matter how much the commentators praise the supposed beauty of the winners trophy, it is not a work of art but absolutely hideous. It could not have been less thoughtfully created. Stick a map of India, the title sponsor and the IPL logo together. Add a lot of gold and diamonds to bling it up. It kind of sums up the culture of excess and shallowness that seems to accompany the IPL.
• Coach John Buchanan is not quite the forward thinking visionary and genius that he talked himself up to be. He was a good coach who had an outstanding set of players during his time in Australia, no more. 2 yrs at KKR have proved without doubt that his theories are best left on paper and that he has a gift for making complicated the most simplest of arts. And lets not get into the ambidextrous players and multiple captains theories.
• Another case of greed, golden eggs, hen and knife is that 2 IPL’s a year. Just not on. In the case of T20 its not more is less but less is more.
• For an organization as opaque as the BCCI, it just gets murkier. They need to come open on the apparent conflicts of interest. On why the owner of Chennai Super Kings is also a Secretary of the BCCI and why the Chief of the national selectors panel is so openly the brand ambassador for the Super Kings. Also it would be naive to believe that Lalit Modi is in no way connected to the Rajasthan Royals franchise. I think the Taxman’s visit may be beneficial for everybody involved.
• Form is temporary and class is permanent. Give a great player from either the Test or ODI format enough time to acclimatize and they will more often than not end up cracking the T20 format as Dravid, Kallis, Kumble, Warne, Gilchrist and Hayden have ably demonstrated. Exception seems to be VVS Laxman and I feel he is a bit in the T20 format. However that should not be a blackmark on his career as he is simply too good for it. To further add, failure in T20 should not belittle achievements from Tests and ODI’s the same way that success in T20 will not necessarily be followed by the same in Tests and ODI’s.
• Atmospheres at sports events cannot be manufactured but are generated out of spontaneity, passion and enthusiasm. Something evidently visible in Indian cricket grounds and something I experienced first hand at Old Trafford watching Manchester Utd play Arsenal. So no amount of DJ bugles, short skirted cheerleaders, incessant hamming from presenters and organisers can help the mood of the viewing public if the quality of the contest is not upto the mark.
• Teams should not put all their foreign eggs in one basket. Distribute your foreign players across batting and bowling resources unless you have a strong local pool of players. Case in point KKR who played Gayle, McCullum, Hodge and David Hussey/van Wyk to strengthen their batting most of the time while Langeveldt, a more than useful bowler in local conditions, languished on the bench. Most successful teams had a second rung of domestic players apart from their international counterparts which reduced the dependence on foreign imports to a extent.
• There are 3 things that sell in India, Cricket, Bollywood and Politics, in no particular order. Combine any of the above 2 and you have a potent mix. Combine all 3 of them and you have dynamite!
• Last but not least, IPL and Lalit Modi please take some lessons in class, subtlety and humility. Especially in wake of the ridiculous after events of the final. When the players were made to wait for more than an hour before they could get their hands on the trophy in front of a half empty stadium.

And that is it for this years IPL. Before we even know I am watching England play Netherlands in the T20 World Cup while I type! Timing certainly is not a forte when it comes to the powers that be in cricket.