A Rant at the IPL

The lack of international Indian cricket over the last few months has kept me off writing for some time. Over this period, India have played the absolutely pointless Asia cup and have since then been tied up with the IPL. The IPL, as always, raised numerous eyebrows. Most games were played in front of packed houses and whilst TV ratings have dropped a wee bit, it does seem as if most of India is still in love with the IPL.

My feelings on the IPL have not changed a great deal. I remain a critic and could not muster the enthusiasm to watch more than a few passages of play here and there. This was not the case when the IPL started. To understand the impact of the IPL in India, we need to go back to the 2007 T20 world cup. The BCCI were anti T20 until then and had no intention of allowing the game to flourish in India. The BCCI’s view point stemmed from their belief that 50 over cricket would make more money than T20 as it is played over a longer period of time. What they did not anticipate was that India would be crowned world champions in a format that there weren’t even interested to begin with. India’s faithful cricket-following public, who are not accustomed to too much international success, lapped up the format and made T20 cricket an instant hit in the country.

Thinking back, I enjoyed the T20 success India achieved in that world cup as much as the next guy. Unlike England or South Africa, India had not played any T20 cricket and save a handful of Pro 20 games that I had seen on South African TV, I had very little exposure to T20 cricket. The novelty value and the instant entertainment of the format made that first world cup memorable.

The one thing you can never accuse the BCCI of is not spotting an opportunity to make money. The BCCI realized that T20 cricket was the next big thing and moved quickly and decisively to setup the IPL. Whilst it is true that the doomed ICL did have an impact on the cricket watching public of India, the lack of marketable stars meant that the level of interest in the ICL was never great. The IPL teams on the other hand were all owned by multi-millionaires. This meant that many of the best players around the world were ready to come and become a part of the IPL because the franchises could afford to pay them a mini fortune for their services.

For me, however, the first season and a bit of the IPL made me realize a lot of truths about the competition. Once the novelty value wore off, you realized that the quality of cricket on display is ordinary to say the least. Bowlers have little or no role and it all boils down to who can score more boundaries. The commentary team with obvious instructions to keep harping on the quality of the IPL started getting on my nerves. The over-the-top advertising gimmicks employed by the broadcasting networks and the commentators made things worse. The fact though, is that despite these reservations, I probably would have still gone along with the IPL if it was not for the impact the IPL is having and threatens to have on the future of test match cricket in India.

I don’t think that the IPL is the sole cause of all India’s problems in test cricket at the moment. But there is no doubt in my mind that it has played a role and the greater worry as far as I’m concerned is the impact the IPL is going to have on test cricket in the long run. Looking back at India’s defeats to England and Australia, fatigue almost certainly played a role. I’m not suggesting that India would have won or even drawn against these teams had they been more match fit then they were, but I certainly think the series would have been slightly more competitive. After all, at least in England, India did have their opportunities in both the 1^st and 2^nd test. If the team had been a little fitter and more match-ready, who knows what could have happened?

The IPL is undoubtedly the prime reason behind fatigue. Sure the IPL lasts only for a few hours, but we need to consider not just the physical demands on the players but also, perhaps more importantly, the mental toll that constant travel, the pressure of justifying a big price tag, the after match parties and so on have on the cricketers. I’ve heard a lot of commentators blaming the cricketers for playing the IPL and not prioritizing test cricket. The BCCI keep telling us, the gullible public that they will immediately rest individuals who ask for the same. IMHO this is ridiculous. Why blame the players when most of us would do exactly the same thing if we were offered a fortune for a few weeks’ work? The other thing to consider here are the owners of the various franchises. These are some of the richest and most powerful men in the country and they have invested an absolute fortune in their respective franchises. None of these men or women are ‘cricket lovers’ with the noble intention of spreading the cricketing gospel. Instead, all of them are involved in the IPL in order to make a profit. If tomorrow a Sachin Tendulkar or a M.S. Dhoni wants to sit out of the IPL, I cannot imagine the owners of their respective franchises being very happy with that decision. After all, Indian cricket has always been about the star.

In addition to fatigue, the IPL and T20 cricket in general, encourages a brand of cricket that has virtually no hope of succeeding in test match cricket. The commentators arguing in favor of the IPL always talk about similar statements being made in the late 60’s when 50 over cricket first made its appearance. Whilst this is true, what they forget are the similarities that 50 over cricket shares with test match cricket. As a contest, 100 overs is a long time. A batsman for most of a 50- over match still has the time to see off a few balls before having to go for his shots. Similarly, a bowler can bowl an aggressive line and length to attacking fields for some time before he may have to resort to defensive bowling. In T20 cricket, there’s just no time for any of this. The batsman attack, and the bowlers defend and this is true for the duration of 90% of the T20 matches that are played. This 1 dimensional way of playing the game has taken all context out of cricket, which for time immemorial has been a contest between bat and ball and not bat and bat.

This method of playing the game has already started to impact the quality of test match cricket. Bowlers are content to bowl defensive lengths to batsman who seem to find it necessary to try and launch every 2^nd ball out of the park. It is no wonder then that the younger Indian generation has struggled to come to terms with test match cricket. The BCCI have made this problem worse by using the IPL as a benchmark for selection into the Indian team. Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Sharma, Manpreet Goni and many others have broken into the Indian side solely on IPL performances. It is hardly a coincidence that none of them have gone to achieve anything significant in India colors.

So the question that many people are asking at the moment is whether the IPL can coexist with test match cricket. In theory, this is possible. However, given the priorities of the administrators in most countries today, it is unlikely that this can happen for too much longer. Apart from England and Australia, test cricket already attracts no crowds in other parts of the world. The administrators, especially in India, treat test match cricket like the poor cousin of T20 cricket. Tests begin on a Monday or Tuesday ensuring that even the few people who might want to attend a game are unable to do so. Pitches in many parts of the country are so docile that the chances of a team winning are remote. The few big brands that are interested in advertising during a test match, insist that everything possible is done to try and ensure that a game goes on for as long as possible. Matches are constantly being organized in venues that have never attracted a crowd for test cricket. The few centers in India that still care a damn about test cricket, never get important games. The Ranji trophy, which was once the most prestigious domestic tournament in India, is today a meaningless competition watched by nobody. 

The facts are clear. The BCCI are interested in one thing and one thing only – to make as much money out of cricket as possible. The IPL provides the perfect platform to do just that. The combination of instant entertainment with film stars is a hit with the urban youth, many of them who do not care a damn about the quality of cricket on display. The success of the IPL has also given the BCCI the perfect excuse to forget about the humiliation in England and Australia. India don't play test match cricket away from home for a long time now. Even if the results of England and Australia are repeated in South Africa in early 2013, does the administration care? After all, there will always be another IPL to push all India's problems underneath the carpet.