India’s version of the Sin City: The IPL

he T20 version of the game began in England to bring the English fans ,who have a short attention span back to the game. In India the game had no popularity till India unexpectedly won the 2007 T20 World Cup. Before that India did not have a T20 domestic tournament. The Zee group tried to have the ICL but it went worse than they had even imagined.
Suddenly taking a cue from the ICL the BCCI decides to have its own T20 tournament. The man to lead them was till then unknown to the cricketing world. A certain Mr. Lalit Modi headed the IPL governing council. His ways of governing will of course make history in next 3 years.

The board’s priority of money making was evident, when instead of asking for sealed tenders they asked the potential buyers to come for an open auction of the cities. After the auctions, the winners were a flamboyant billionaire, a bollywood superstar, a glamorous pair of a bollywood actress and a business scion, a media house, an airport owner and the then richest man of India. None of them of course had anything to do with cricket till then.


Then came the second bonanza, cricketing legends like Warne, Hayden, Murali, Gilly were auctioned like cattle. An auction of players has been un heard of in any sports anywhere before that or since then (of course except the IPL 2nd and 3rd auctions). They way cricketers were treated and traded as commodity brought not money but immense shame to a 200 year old game. It was no more a gentleman’s game but a moneyman’s game.
The start of the 2008 season saw a few unknown and fringe cricketers doing great in the IPL. 2 years later only one Shane Watson has left any signs of repute on the international game. The likes of Gony has come and gone, while the Pathans and the Marshes struggle on. Yusuf Pathan has shown the trait to be another Afridi like character who is boom or bust. Marsh has been perennially injured and hasn’t held a spot in his national team on a continuous basis.

Season 2 started with the uncertainty over the fact whether tournament will actually happen, as it clashed with the general elections in India and security was an issue. BCCI took an inexplicable decision, they shifted the whole event to South Africa. 1st time in history of cricket a domestic tournament of a country was being held in another country. While IPL gave the excuse of continuity, everyone knew that a different window in the year will make it difficult for majority of international players to participate and will result in huge losses for IPL.

The IPL season in South Africa was more popular for:
1. The antics of the KKR team and its coach and racial abuse issues in the team.
2. A mystery blogger leaking inside information of teams and players.
3. Two team owners who were on the verge of arrest and deportation.
4. The scantily clad gyrations of the cheer leaders.
5. The numerous night long parties where liquor flows like water.


The fruits of IPL were seen in the 2009 T20 WC. Virender Sehwag was injured. Most players were tired and the so called finds of IPL like Pathan , Raina and company struggled against the international teams and India was booted out in the 2nd stage of IPL.


The Season 3 has not yet finished and more controversy has arrived. The spat between the IPL commissioner and an Indian politician has brought the dirty linen of IPL out in the public. There are talks of black money, shawdow inverstors, political intervention, underworld threats, dirty money, mystery woman and what not. The IPL has been warned for serving liquor in public and for insulting the name India
IPL is not about cricket but about 65mt DLF maximum and dolly catches being called Karbonn kamaal catch. It is not about talent and temperament but about entertainment and glamour.