Playing with the best allows Indian players to imbibe new skills or polish old ones
Playing with the best allows Indian players to imbibe new skills or polish old ones
Watching IPL auctions can be fun in the same way as watching a hunter chasing prey on television can be fun. You know how it will end (some run away in comfort, others get stuck), but for a while you suspend disbelief.
We have had these auctions for so long that we accept them as part of cricket, as part of our lives, just as we accept potholes in our streets or rude behavior by elected officials.
But since millionaires are made overnight with the sudden wave of a paddle, it’s hard not to imagine Test cricket fading away. As Greg Chappell recently wrote Sydney Morning Herald“The biggest competition in Test cricket is coming from within.”
The most common response to fears of the disappearance of Test cricket, or the closure of publishing houses, or the closure of traditional grain farms with cash crops: let the market decide, But that philosophy works primarily on an individual level — the salary of a movie star or company CEO, for example — and can be counterproductive otherwise. Markets cannot decide on education, for example, or health care. Or the future of a sport. There has to be a balance.
Benefits for Indian cricket
When the Indian cricket board was trying to sell this concept about 15 years ago, it saw several advantages for Indian cricket.
There was a theory that IPL would involve fans in franchise cities which would bring them closer to the game. It would improve international relations on the playing field, another went on; This will improve the behavior of the player. Playing with the best players in the world will improve the game of Indian players, it was taken lightly.
It was not actually written, but T20 cricket was seen as the future, and it was a belief that India were quick to understand its intricacies.
A decade and a half later, how many of these lovely hopes have been fulfilled? Apart from Chennai Super Kings, I can’t think of a team that has taken their fans seriously enough to respond with unconditional love. In the initial years with Royal Challengers Bangalore, when Rahul Dravid was let go, there was some backlash, but since then fans have rarely reacted to a signing or the prospect of attracting a different set of players.
Karnataka had 26 players in the auction this year, but RCB picked only two. Most franchises often go without a local player. Last year, a Telangana politician suggested that Sunrisers Hyderabad should drop ‘Hyderabad’ from its name as there were no players from Hyderabad. Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin also expressed a similar sentiment.
player relations
Player relations have also not improved much when playing international cricket, as shown by on-field fracas in recent series during India’s series in England. Maybe it was being too optimistic.
However, the IPL has made two changes for the Indian players. Playing with the best has given them a chance to imbibe new skills or polish off old ones. The price tag has lifted many people out of poverty and has promised them a future relatively free from financial worries. And it has given cricket boards money that it can pump back into the domestic game, while enjoying the kind of influence in world cricket that only money can buy.
However, it can be a double-edged sword. As Chappell goes on to say in his column, “If we continue to fill the administration’s ranks with people from the business and political worlds, money and power will always be winners. As former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating put it: ‘In the race for life, always behind selfishness – at least you know it’s trying.’ ,
It is the administrators’ responsibility to strike a balance between market demand and what is good for the game, especially the longest format. In the years since 2008, the tournament’s inaugural year, it has not seriously affected India’s position in Test cricket except for forgettable series in England and Australia a decade earlier.
long format hope
As long as India, Australia and England continue to support Test cricket, there is some hope for the long game. But this may not be viable for most other countries, and international sport cannot be sustained by three countries, however committed they may be. There is a slippery slope of diminishing interest.
Sure, the market decides. But it was still heartbreaking to see top players disappear in the auction, among them Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Eoin Morgan. Suresh Raina, also a CSK hero. While celebrating millionaires, we should also look for a system where such players are not publicly shamed.
Perhaps their respective agents should check further with the franchisee to be sure an offer will be made, thus giving them a chance to withdraw if there isn’t one.
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