IPL 2017

In the summer months throughout the India, if there is one welcome relief then it can easily be Indian Premier League. For a change let me not write about scores, points table, orange cap, purple cap and any other details. 

Let’s ponder over how IPL has changed the cricketing landscape of not only India but the entire world.

Remember India was the last nation to embrace the bikini format of cricket. All the big guns of Team India, Sachin, Rahul, Saurav gave a miss to T20 selection after a disastrous world cup in 2007. Selectors made a brave call to instill Dhoni as the leader of young Indian team. Young India went on to win the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa by beating Pakistan in finals, can it get better than this? The T20 World Cup really acted as a catalyst to fulfill the dream of a domestic cricket league. Credit should be given to BCCI for encouraging the idea and doing even a better job of executing the idea. The league made sure that it had teams from all the regions of India and covered India like no one else would. It also gave a great platform for the domestic players to rub shoulders with top flight Indian as well as foreign professional players. 

The eight teams format started producing some excellent matches with highest quality of cricket. It was hardly a surprise as the quality of players involved in IPL was the best in the world. The cricket crazy nation of India lapped up the idea like one would lap up an alphonso in summer. The stadiums were overflowing with fans and the television rating went through the roof. Sponsors were queuing up with blank cheques to be part of the league.

First time India had produced a world class league and every player from other cricket playing nation wanted to be part of this league. Over the next 10 years the league went on to see many ups and downs in terms of success and controversies but one thing was constant, fans watching top quality cricket. That one thing kept IPL sailing through choppy waters of controversies which were in plenty. Value of brand IPL has jumped to $4.16 billion after the 2016 edition. Now that’s a staggering number and one should not be surprised if IPL starts getting compared with other leagues across other sports globally!!!

Stadiums now have so much better facilities as compared to say 10 years ago. Ask a fan who has watched matches in both eras, they will tell you about the stark difference between facilities in stadiums then & now.

Outfield of the cricket ground has seen remarkable improvements. With its lush green outfields coupled with excellent drainage capabilities has ensured the grounds can be compared to the best in the world.

Number of matches kept the wallets of cricket association swelling and they kept pumping money back into the game. This chain reaction obviously led to better grounds and better facilities.

Financial benefits were given to all the former players who played for India and their states. Recently even woman cricketers were awarded with handsome money for their contribution to Indian cricket.

Just like the glory of IPL there are dark sides of leagues like IPL. There is surely too much of cricket all over the world leading to player burnout. The One Day format is looking less attractive to fans and broadcasters alike. Players are having more injuries than ever before. Players are retiring from longer formats to preserve themselves for T20 formats and specifically for leagues like IPL. And the boardroom politics of ICC and other nations are at their highest for releasing their players for T20 leagues. Most worrying aspect is future generations cricketers have started thinking slam bang T20 is the ultimate format and not the test cricket. But let’s put that down to the evolution of cricket. It has to find its own coping mechanism in order to sustain in this hyper-competitive world.

One thing for purist is definitely to see test matches with more results than boring draws. Nowadays hardly any test match is played without result. Would you contribute this momentous change in test cricket to the leagues like IPL and T20 format. I certainly will.

If Team India has benefitted the most from IPL, it will be hard to choose anything above the fielding standards. It has gone remarkably up in terms of ground fielding and catching. Earlier there used to be one or two fielders who can be called good fielders. But now the Team India is packed with great athletes and there are hardly any fielders to hide. The fitness levels of the current international crop of is absolutely top notch.

Another significant aspect which Team India has improved, is pulling through crunch situations of the match. Close look at stats will tell you, Team India have won more crunch situations than they have lost. This significant shift is due to change in mental approach which should be attributed to fearlessness the IPL has given to its players. Many close matches in IPL have thrown new hero for their teams almost every time. No asking rate is high enough for teams nowadays. Anything and almost everything is possible. Spinners who were supposed to be cannon fodder in the T20 format started winning matches for their teams and started becoming most valuable players of their respective teams. There are leagues all across the world like BBL of Australia, BPL of Bangladesh, England is planning their own T20 league, South Africa floated tenders in India for their own T20 leagues. Every nation wants to copy the IPL formula and tap into the huge revenues which is on offer. So all this is great compliment for IPL.

Let’s celebrate the grand success of IPL for giving us the adrenaline rush, absolute pleasure, top quality cricket and world class entertainment throughout its journey and let’s hope the league becomes one of the best in the world. It’s proud tribute to this cricket crazy nation and cricket FANS. There cannot be a better tagline than that of IPL 10 ”Yeh 10 saal……………aapke naam………”