IPL now goes international

Two great stories emerged last weekend. One was India’s comprehensive victory in the Hamilton test, the first test win in New Zealand for 33 years. The second was of the IPL deciding to move out of India. But for all the history and joy associated with the test victory, the IPL story has created a much bigger stir in the cricketing world and the media.

The desperate situation that IPL finds itself in today makes me very very happy. Let me explain why…

The motive behind the IPL
IPL is not an event of national pride. It is not even a cricketing event. In fact, IPL is a business model that has promised big profits for all stakeholders - the BCCI, franchisees, sponsors, broadcasters, and the cricketers themselves. All stakeholders except the most important of them all – CRICKET.

If the development of cricket was among the priorities of BCCI, we would have seen much more interest and coverage for the domestic competitions – the Ranji, Irani, Duleep and Deodhar trophies. There could have been a domestic T20 competition on the lines of similar events in England, Australia, South Africa, etc. We could have some teams sign up international stars to add the glam quotient.

But all of that would not have satisfied the humungous appetites of the goons that run Indian cricket. They wanted to make it big, with corporate houses buying teams, cricketers being auctioned off like prostitutes or slaves in the olden days. So, the only motive behind this entertainment circus is money.

The Political connection
The biggest problem with world cricket today is its administration. It is not run by people who understand the game. Neither is it run by professionals with prior experience of sports management. The problem is especially damaging in India, where the people in charge are either corrupt politicians, or some rich influencers who can throw some money around to make lots more.

Any aspirant of a top BCCI position must have significant political affiliations. That was exactly the formula used by Lalit Modi. Unfortunately, BJP lost the Rajasthan state elections, and after that, Modi lost his clout in the Rajasthan Cricket Association. That made him weak in his home turf, and with the Congress at the helm in Parliament, he obviously cannot pull as many strings. Dirty, Dirty politics!

The Franchisee dilemma
Cricket is India’s #1 passion. The country stops when the national cricket team is on the field. So, it is not at all difficult to rope in the corporates who can use such a platform to reach out to Indian masses. That’s exactly what attracted big names like Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya, and other (stupid) corporate houses to put in hundreds of millions of dollars into this ambitious project.

The model first ensured that BCCI would make profits. Most of the franchisees would take at least 3-4 years (of successful IPL) to break-even.

With so much at stake, the franchisees have no option but to support BCCI in whatever steps they take to ensure that IPL2 happens. It was not mere coincidence that we heard all team owners express full support to BCCI. And they do not have an exit route; nobody will invest (bet) in this circus given the economic downturn. Franchisees have to rake in whatever sponsorship they manage to get, and pray that somehow their losses this year are minimized.

Where now?
At this moment, the BCCI is considering 2 options to host the IPL – England and South Africa. These are the only 2 countries where cricket can be played in April and May, and the telecast can coincide with prime time in India. The boards are more than willing to accommodate the IPL on its grounds. And why not? Why should anyone mind the extra buck?

Common sense and knowledge of adverse weather conditions in England would suggest that South Africa should be the obvious choice. But there seems to be some powerful lobbying for the games to be held in England. The economics would tilt the decision in favour of England. Given the huge expat population, we can expect some good crowds for the matches. Some reports suggest that the Indian team management (Dhoni and co.) want the matches in England, so as to get some valuable practice before the T20 World Cup there.

I would like this to happen, and to see how many matches get washed (or even snowed) out. I wonder how many sponsors would be willing to stick around thru the chilly journey to England!

What lies ahead…
The next year (if IPL lasts that long) will be even more interesting. IPL plans to host matches in March – April to avoid a clash with the T20 World Cup in West Indies. It will then clash with the exam season. This will mean that the student/ youth segment (and their families) who make up the largest segment of audience (either in-ground or on TV) will give the matches a miss.

Lower audiences will mean lesser ticket revenues. Lower viewership will mean lesser sponsorship revenues. All this will translate into losses for the franchisees (the biggest losers in the whole circus). Ultimately the IPL will lose the pillars it stand on and hopefully, should fold up – the sooner the better.

Summarizing..
The IPL wants to change the face of international cricket. The goons promoting it want to take all romance out of our #1 passion and make cricket a business. They were cheeky enough to lay the blame of the IPL2 fiasco on the non-cooperation from the government and political reasons for the fiasco. So much for climbing the BCCI ladder using political affiliations themselves!

Indian Cricket is the ‘Goose that lays golden eggs’. BCCI, instead of nurturing the goose, wants to cut it open and have all the eggs at once. They want to fill their coffers and usurp all the power they can using this money. Now, it’s their karma hitting back. Hopefully, this should see a major change in cricket administration, and better days and years ahead!

India in New Zealand – ODIs in the bag, time for the real Tests

What a scintillating performance by India! Having put the T20 defeats behind them, Dhoni’s men went on to register India’s first ever ODI series win in New Zealand. All credit goes to the batsmen of course, who took full advantage of some pretty good pitches, small boundaries and mediocre bowling.

Virender Sehwag took ‘hitting’ to another level, as he plundered the hapless bowlers over the boundaries with regular ease. Tim Southee, Ian O’Brien, Jacob Oram, Ewan Thompson and Kyle Mills were left with serious self-doubts and forgettable bowling figures.

Sachin Tendulkar took a couple of games to find his touch. But with his 163 at Christchurch, proved for the umpteenth time, why he still remains a force to reckon with. Moreover, the batting debacles in the T20s and the final ODI, showed the value of his experience, and the possible effects of his absence.

Just about all the batsmen contributed their bit. However, the bowlers were quite disappointing. Munaf Patel was especially pathetic, absolute lack of intensity or focus. He has a very good opportunity to cement his position as the 3rd seamer, but his lackdaisical attitude will not give the captain any confidence.

The sides will now focus on the tests. A lot is being made of the return of the test specialists, Dravid and Laxman. Of course they will play a key role. But, my gut feel says the openers will decide India’s batting fate in the series. Sehwag has already gotten under the skin of the Kiwi bowlers. Gambhir has been scratchy, but will play the important steadying role at the top of the innings. Hopefully, Tendulkar will be fit enough to play all the tests.

The other important factor for India will be the performance of the 3rd seamer. Zaheer and Ishant will need serious backup support to ensure that the pressure is maintained. Munaf might still get the nod for the 1st match and based on that show, Dhoni may decide for the following games.

The Indians know better than to underestimate the Kiwis. Jesse Ryder has already shown how dangerous he can be. Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill are both extremely talented and can play critical roles. James Franklin will do the all-rounder's job that Oram did so well on India's last tour. And their bowlers are just the right kind to exploit seaming conditions.

But overall, India must and will focus on their strengths, and ensure that they play with their heads on their shoulders. Reading the pitch will be absolutely critical and so will shot selection. If India do the basics right, they should be able to win at least 2 matches (if the weather holds). But the last time India won 2 consecutive tests in a series was against Sri Lanka at home in 2005. We saw how they gave away the advantage in South Africa. Do they have the mental strength and determination to win 2 out of 3 test matches? I think they do.

India in New Zealand – Looking forward to the ODIs

India have been comprehensively defeated in the 2 T20s. Although the 2nd game went to the last ball, but really, the Kiwis seemed to have the pace of the game under control. So what’s ailing? And how should they approach the ODIs?

Pathans have flattered to deceive

Irfan Pathan has no right to occupy the 3rd seamer’s slot, especially in New Zealand. His bowling was welcomed by the batsmen in the T20s, who promptly dispatched him over the boundary on a dozen occasions. His batting comes handy at times. But in New Zealand, India needs 3 specialist seamers, and Irfan should be dropped.

Yusuf, the batting allrounder, has rarely (if ever) bowled his full quota of overs on turning tracks. His utility in New Zealand is minimal. And does he deserve a place above a specialist batsman? I would rather give an opportunity to Rohit Sharma no. 6. Too bad Ravindra Jadeja is not part of the ODI squad.

Dhoni is confused

From the evidence of the T20s, it seems that Dhoni is not sure how he should use his batting skills. He is trying to mould himself into the sheet anchor role which is just not his style. He is best at smashing the ball and that’s what he should continue doing. He should come in at no.7, after Sharma.

Bat around the master

With the young brigade failing in both the T20s, the batting will yet again depend heavily on Sachin Tendulkar. Ideally, I would have Sachin back at no.4, where he can play the steadying role, for the others to bat around him. This would also allow the Sehwag-Gambhir partnership to continue at the top of the order.

But Gambhir has looked somewhat out of sorts. So Sachin has to open, and bat and bat...

3 specialist seamers please!

I reiterate – Irfan Pathan is not good enough to be the 3rd seamer. Praveen Kumar should play all matches. Zaheer, Ishant and Munaf can be rotated for the other 2 seamer slots.

So my playing 11 will be:
1. Sehwag
2. Tendulkar
3. Gambhir
4. Yuvraj
5. Raina
6. Sharma
7. Dhoni
8. Harbhajan
9. Praveen
10. Zaheer
11. Ishant/ Munaf

The Referral System – Bring it On!

Here is a piece of online cricket commentary I caught over the Australia v New Zealand ODI series -

“Mills to Ponting, no run, that's plumb but not given. Good length delivery, pitched outside the off stump and this one jagged back in. Ponting pushes forward to drive and is beaten by the angle. Looked out but umpire Davis was not impressed.
Hot spot picks up a touch on the front pad and a solid hit on the back-pat. Either way it looked out…”

And one from the India-NZL T20 encounter –

“Harbhajan Singh to Guptill, OUT, very bizarre decision! Guptill aims to pull a short delivery and gets a thick inside edge onto his thigh, the Indians appeal and the inside edge was obvious to the naked eye, umpire Gary Baxter doesn't appear as if if he's going to give it out and then all of a sudden raises the finger, Guptill doesn't want to go and McCullum can't believe it either”

Time and again the cameras and technology have exposed glaring mistakes made by umpires. Talk of the infamous Sydney test. Or Steve Bucknor adjudging Tendulkar out LBW at Brisbane in 2003, when the ball was sailing over the stumps by more than a foot. Or the millions of times Ricky Ponting has been hit on the pads bang in front of the stumps, but the umpiress did not budge.

Cricket today has become so competitive that there is just no room for errors, and especially no room for errors from the umpires. I cannot say that umpires of the decades gone by were impeccable, but today’s set of umpires (barring 1 or 2) cannot be called ‘elite’.

We all know how Bucknor and Benson messed up the Sydney test, notably with all their bad decisions going in favour of the Aussies. After this, India should have welcomed the referrals and been thoroughly prepared on their use. Unfortunately, they failed miserably with their challenges thru their debacle in Sri Lanka, and instead of analyzing their own errors, they spoke against the system. But was it the system’s fault that they ended up on the wrong side of most of the decisions referred? It showed a clear lack of awareness on the part of the Indians, who challenged with hope rather than certainty.

This innovation has already taken too long to be introduced. Bad umpiring decisions have affected a number of matches and a number of cricketers. My honest estimate is that Sachin Tendulkar has been robbed of at least 1000 runs in tests and ODIs, and Ricky Ponting has played some 40 more innings than he should have been allowed to.

Any new introduction will have teething problems. The players have to get familiar with the rules of the game. Technology has to become foolproof and remove all doubts. (Hawkeye cannot be relied on to extrapolate the path of a delivery.) Third umpires do not seem clear as to how much they can depend on hawk-eye. And some umpires are so bad that they make mistakes even with technology support!

The most disappointed aspect of the adoption process is the hesitancy shown by the players themselves. To my mind, it should have only been the Aussies resisting this move (with their standard line that ‘Umpiring mistakes are part of the game’). And nobody can now blame the umpire for a bad decision.

For cricket’s sake, I hope this concept is given the full go-ahead. A few chinks need to be removed:
1. Only if the challenge is conclusively wrong, should the challenge be lost. If the 3rd umpire cannot make a conclusive judgement, it is not the challenger’s fault.
2. ICC must ensure that the best technology is made available for all international matches. The best cricketers deserve the best technology.
3. A team should be allowed at least 3 erroneous challenges per innings. A minute’s delay will surely not affect commercial interests!

It’s then up to the cricketers to get comfortable with the system and know when the umpire has goofed up. They must be good judges themselves and be fully aware of proceedings on the field.

So let’s get the doubts in our minds out and let this wonderful innovation come through – it will surely take the game positively forward.