The IPL Big Bazar

A new era has begun and understandably many are uncomfortable with the change, some because they find the bidding of the players obscene and others because they find it galling that so much effort is being made to make few people rich while millions continue to .starve. The fact is that the process is irreversible and one wishes that other sports catch the trend.

by REPORTER@DAYAFTERINDIA.COM

Once upon a time cricket was just like that – a sport and cricketers were no different. People played it for the love of it and did not mind being called amateurs. They ran their households from their private incomes and those who did not have such incomes looked for them even if that meant saying goodbye to the game. Yes, there were others who played it for the sake of money and therefore were derisively called ‘professionals’ and were consigned to dressing rooms that were not visited by the gentlemen of the game.

This has changed and is now again being subjected to radical changes. If Kerry Packer and his merry men gave the cricketers to earn a decent living out of the game, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has given them a lifestyle that can be the envy of various other sporting disciplines. Significantly, while the International Cricket Council (ICC) had made every effort to thwart the attempt of Kerry Packer only to realize later that there was money and glory for all to share and enjoy, this time around the ICC and its member boards are backing this new stage of development of the game. In fact the respective cricket boards are banning players who have opted for the rival Indian Cricket League (ICL) managed by the ZEE television.

The IPL has big names backing it and when the bids for the clubs were opened many must have been surprised by the names that demonstrated interest and lost. Among the losers were the largest private bank ICICI and the brand name in real estate development DLF. Even greater was the surprise when the contracted players were auctioned as among the rank of the top 15 were young guns like M.S. Dhoni, Ishant Sharma, just getting out of his teens and bid for Rs. 3.8 crores, Irfan Pathan, R.P. Singh and Robin Uthappa. Not surprisingly, however, has been the reaction to the bidding from certain quarters. They would still like to see players pretending to be playing for the love of it even though they themselves are given to opulent and ostentatious living.

Probably some among the objectors see cricketers, the only sportsmen in the country who compete at the international and are supported by the whole nation, as symbols of Indian nationalism and the idea of such icons being bought and sold is rather uncomfortable for them. This notwithstanding, the fact remains that in the modern era, sports as a source of entertainment, is a big business. Whether it is the Basketball league in USA or the premier football league in England, the organizers have realized that if the game is properly packaged and marketed then there is money in it for all and since the game does not become attractive and entertaining therefore the bigger and the better players capable of exciting the spectators have to be paid well. It is no surprise that the footballers and the basketball players in the developed world are amazingly rich. In India in contrast to those countries only cricket generates that kind of interest and this explains the fact that even today the Indian players are better paid than the World champions Australian players.

The bidding of IPL players has meant that there are 30 Indian players who will be getting more than a crore each. In all 32 Indian players will be playing and on an average they will be paid Rs. 2.7 crores. Australia has 13 players at an average cost of Rs. 2.1 crores, New Zealand 5 players at Rs. 2.0 crores and Pakistan has 7 for Rs. 1.6 crores. If the money being offered to new faces like Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma came as a surprise then there have been shocks too as the market price of players like Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne has been much below what was being anticipated and hoped.

There is little doubt that this is an irreversible trend and a new era in sports in general and cricket in particular has begun. However, this should not mean that the concerns of the critics should be brushed aside. Perhaps they are uncomfortable with the idea that in a country where 40 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line so much effort should be devoted to filling the coffers of the few.