CricDigs Blogs

Just as the World Cup T20 is about to get underway, there have been lots of opinion from players who had participated in the just-concluded IPL2. Most of them are of the opinion that the telecast of the IPL merely days before the World Cup would not make a significant impact on the viewership and cricket was bound to cut across any sort of TV boredom. However, among all these opinions, the best was the one expressed by Jacques Kallis of South Africa when he compared the IPL to a marathon and the World Cup T20 as a ‘sprint’.

I guess that is the best way to compare and differentiate between the two tournaments. The IPL meant that the teams had to be consistent for 14 games or so while the World Cup in England is much less accommodating and there is no time to get into the gear or get used to the conditions except for the initial matches against the non test-playing nations like Ireland and Scotland.

In a way, you can call it an eventuality that had to strike at some time. The ICL was just too ill-fated from the very first step it took. There is just no cricketing body that can compete with the Moguls of Indian cricket — the BCCI and actually hope to compete or should I say, actually survive. This is exactly what has happened to the ICL as it had been slowly losing ground over the last two years. Now, it is official that the ICL is due to give an all-clear signal to its contracted players and staff to let them go ahead and get back to playing for their domestic home teams at least if not international cricket. However, just as this news is settling-in, another version of a rebel cricket league in the Americas is gaining ground. It is being said that it might see the support of the Indian diaspora that are cash-rich and settled abroad and do not necessarily need the support of the BCCI for giving them T20 entertainment. So far, it seems the IPL has no real competition in terms of international cricketing leagues.

There seems to be no end to the miseries of the ICL. First, its annual fixtures got derailed due to the security concerns in the sub-continent and then its leading players from Pakistan started to break-away. Now, another stipulation that was supposed to deter ICL players is about to get dusted and this is sure to entice more ICL players to leave the troubled franchise to try and revive their international and county careers.

New Zealand Cricket has announced that the one-year ‘cooling period’, endorsed by the Indian Board for players returning from the ICL, is not a very practical suggestion. This means that despite the immense discrimination that these players faced, they have a chance of straightaway playing for their national sides. Further, most of them realize that ICL is doomed whereas IPL continues to go from strength-to-strength. This announcement was sparked-off with regards to the rehabilitation of former Kiwi international pace bowling sensation, Shane Bond who has publicly described his desperation to get back to playing for his nation.

As if the ongoing international seclusion that Pakistan cricket is suffering wasn’t enough, now another set of controversies has cropped up to dampen the efforts of the PCB. The players who had participated in the ICL under the banner of Lahore Badshahs are now asking to be allowed to turn up for their respective domestic sides and, in all probability, the PCB might not be able to stop this from happening. This would certainly be disliked by the ICC bosses.

The ICL hasn’t turned out to be the financial bonanza that the defected Pakistani players were hoping it to be. In fact, most of them have started making a noise about their long-standing dues and non-payment of individual participation fees. They have been further enraged by the PCB for not letting them easy access to being shipped across as ‘overseas’ players in the counties and most of them playing in England aren’t being paid at par with regular international players.

The small bunch of players who had managed to gain entry into the IPL’s 1st edition would miss out the 2nd edition in all probability. Further, chances are that the amount promised to them taking into consideration the promotion of the League over a period of time would also be compromised. Now, there are reports that Mohammad Asif has been held guilty for opium possession. The PCB had outrightly rejected any theory that claimed Asif’s guilt when the matter was first reported but now it looks as if the Board would have to come up with a real innovative explanation to protect a potential match-winner for the team.

His current participation from domestic and international cricket was already under temporary suspension and he could end up getting banished from the game. To top it all, there are reports that some political parties in India are asking for a total boycott of playing with Pakistan not just in bilateral series but even in international tournaments. Wonder what would happen if the ICC is faced with such a conundrum.

As expected, the IPL selection is gaining momentum with its new season about to get underway within a few months. Some of the Pakistani players had commented that they wouldn’t prefer playing for Indian franchisees with the surmounting political tension between the two neighbours and that is exactly what is happening.

The Kolkata Knight Riders have decided to do away with their much touted acquisition — Shoaib Akhtar. This really isn’t much of a surprise though Shoaib might face further humiliation as he hasn’t been dropped. It is just that the KKR franchise have decided to put him on ‘sale’ but the question remains that whether there would be an Indian franchise willing to take him on?

In all probability, no one would and even if that does happen, it would be for a remarkably reduced fee. KKR also have Umar Gul and it would be interesting to see if he is persisted with. There are already rumours of regional political parties in West Bengal shouting for the ouster of all Pakistani players. In a similar manner, the Mumbai franchise would find it very hard, nearly impossible, to even consider a Pakistani selection. There are rumours that Mumbai might not even host IPL matches that have a Pakistani talent playing.

ICL versus IPL: ICL have been reluctantly engaged in some official dialogue with the IPL. In all probability there are a few administrators of the game who believe that an amiable and profitable mutual participation for the players of the two T20 franchises is be a possibility. At the moment, the ICL players including those from New Zealand and Pakistan, are fighting with their respective cricket boards to lift their ‘banning’ from domestic and national selection.

Double-edged Bats: T20 is witnessing another attacking option being introduced for its batsmen. Double-edged bats are about to be used in Australia’s domestic T20 tournament. Most people believe that it wouldn’t make much of a difference while the bat’s manufacturers sound confident when saying that it makes shots like the reverse sweep more powerful.

Tension arising out of the deteriorating relations between India and Pakistan have left Pakistan cricket in a real mess and now it seems that whatever little earning opportunity its players had from the ICL/IPL matches too stand to be compromised. While the Lahore Badshahs’ players have already been delivered a feeler saying that their representation in the next instalment of the ICL wasn’t a certainty, the IPL players too might be asked not to participate in the IPL’s new season.

While some of the Pakistani players are confident that the situation will improve in the near future, most of the international players feel that the situation might only get worse as the nation is witnessing a political isolation like never before. Some of Pakistan’s players have even gone on to say that they fear some sort of backlash even when turning up for the counties in the current and coming season as the memories of the recent terror strikes and the general anti-Pak rhetoric fails to fade away.

The PCB is trying hard to get some sort of matches for its players and now if things go according to plans they might be able to host Sri Lanka and Australia. However, the PCB hosting the Aussies is only a proposal at the moment as the authorities acknowledge the fact that the Aussies too would have the most extreme of reservations about travelling to a nation where incidents of human bombs exploding are common and the presence of terror factories are being broadcasted on every news channel. The PCB is desperate enough to schedule international fixtures at neutral venues but now as things stand, some of the proposed neutral venues in North America and the Middle East face uncertainty as the fear of terrorist strikes carry on haunting the concerned authorities.

There has been an increased sense of mutual understanding between the BCCI and the ECB. Now that England have come through of their promise of touring India even after the terror attacks in Mumbai the relations between the two cricketing Boards are getting better by the day. In fact, there is a proposition that IPL matches could be staged in England. This is a real startling piece of information because just a few weeks back the ECB seemed ruthlessly set against the idea of its players even participating in the IPL. It looks as if the BCCI is trying real hard to impress upon the ECB and their effort is being reciprocated in a very positive manner.

At one point there was a virtual deadlock between the two boards and England players were asked not to even think about IPL participation. However, if the IPL matches are staged in the UK, it would be more comfortable for the England players to participate. ECB might have calculated the fact that hosting the IPL in their backyard would given the England team another advantage — these matches could serve as the best preparatory option for the tentatively-scheduled World Twenty20.

I guess from a financial perspective too, this sort of scheduling would be very beneficial for the ECB. The presence of huge Indian diaspora in the UK guarantees substantial viewership. Furthermore, the small county grounds would enable a lot of free hitting from the batsmen, something essential for T20 matches. It is difficult to make out the real reason for the BCCI proposing this. Are they afraid of the terror-struck reputation of the sub-continent disrupting the IPL schedule again and want to ascertain a safe back-up option for the future or is this a goodwill gesture for England coming to India during a difficult time and helping to safeguard India’s reputation as a cricketing host.

Literally, the cricket world is falling apart, in every conceivable way, including its appeal, the level of competition and its administration. In terms of the competing there are hardly three or four test teams that provide some level of real anticipation and can really compete with each other. The demise of cricketing standards in the West Indies, New Zealand and Pakistan has narrowed down the level of competition of so much that most of the test series are going on with a sense of pre-conceived notion that a certain team is bound to win or is only playing to try out some of its new talents. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh stand hopelessly lost and either of them could be defeated by any of the top-ranked English county sides.

Even in the one-dayers, the pattern of the games has become a bit too predictable. The ICC had tried out a few new roles for the teams to involve more decision making and make the game look more cerebral but then again all these efforts have had one sort of effect — the game has become too heavily loaded for the batsmen. The days of a score of around 235-250 being fiercely competed and looked upon as a decent score now seem pre-historic. Now, any team not able to score 300+ regularly is seen as having a team denied of any real ‘hitters’ and that is exactly what the game is turning out to be — a place for batsmen who yield their bats like a rampaging samurai trying to axe every ball beyond the boundary.

The latest problem is the sub-continent’s cricketing status which is being increasingly threatened by the terrorism that has found a firm foothold. Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka had very limited appeal when it came to hosting international matches and now God forbid if India comes to be counted along with them the game could have a crippling scheduling problem. The role of neutral venues has to be tested out no matter how financially unwise a decision it may seem to most administrators of the game. After all, neutral venues that are nurtured now would turn out as good hosting venues a few years down the line.

All these problems have been compounded by the IPL – ICL clash. Only if better sense was to prevail and these two enterprises could somehow come together and we could one truly global and highly competitive T20 League. This could really come in handy for the game itself, T20 involves shorter time spans that are easier to handle in terms of security cover, instant rush in terms of capturing the audience attention, more equality in terms of competition and almost equal if not more money-making opportunities.

Cricketing boards around the world seem to be slugging it out over administrative and scheduling issues. As England played the first of its Stanford Series matches, the views expressed from around the cricketing fraternity exclaimed how the ECB had literally sold of its players and teams for a non-cricketing cause. Even the likes of Geoffrey Boycott have come to terms with T20 cricket, saying it is a must for the game to survive, but even he couldn’t comprehend the logic behind T20 matches being organised between a national side and a privately-owned corporate team. Again, what exactly is the logic behind the West Indian players donning the uniforms for Stanford and not their national logos? Does this mean that on that day, the Stanford Group has bought the entire West Indies cricket team? The ECB has gone in a mood of snubbing everyone who has counter-questioned their wisdom.

Now, closer home, the SLC — Sri Lankan Cricket authorities are at loggerheads with the BCCI. The SLC strongly feels that their players should give priority to national duty rather than club cricket — IPL. Notwithstanding, the SLC’s sentiments, the BCCI has cleared that the Sri Lankan cricketers had signed up to participate in the IPL for three seasons. This has stumped the SLC. They were under the assumption that their players had been contracted for the first season only. This comes in the wake of the Sri Lankan players being asked to continue with their England Tour rather than play for the money-rich IPL. Now, the BCCI is on the verge of snapping its ties with the SLC, if the Board doesn’t allow its players to take part in the IPL. Things are getting worse with national sentiments divided among the viewing public. Most people agree with SLC head, Ranatunga, that it is immoral to choose club cricket over international, test cricket.

Even IPL’s arch rival, the ICL is on a warpath with its players. Reportedly, the Dhaka Warriors aren’t pleased with the amenities extended to them. The ICL has suspended an international player, Chris Cairns of New Zealand along with former Indian player, Dines Mongaia on disciplinary grounds. The ICL-IPL talks seem to be headed nowhere as everyone knows that Lalit Modi is going to be relentless in his pursuit to make IPL the undisputed T20 Championship. There were suggestions that ICL could sell its franchise to the IPL, helping IPL to eliminate the competition and increase the number of participating teams. The ICL bosses seem perturbed over the fact that the second edition is witnessing one-sided matches and limited crowds in the stadiums.

So as the situation stands now — the Stanford Series has soured relationships of world cricketing boards and the ECB. The ECB and SLC aren’t on the best of terms, with the forthcoming Sri Lanka – England series on the verge of being scrapped. Like I said, the BCCI and SLC are already slugging it out. Phew!! This is the state of things when we have less than ten Test teams and the game is struggling to re-invent itself and survive. May God hammer some sense into these crusading cricket boards and make them realise the bigger goal — uplifting and spreading the game.

It was suppose to be a masterful stroke by the ICL by initiating their second season in conjunction with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 2008. However if the initial reports are to be believed, the supposedly well-planned manoeuvre hasn’t exactly come off the way the ICL managing committee was expecting it. The prime reason lies in the fact that there is an increasing rivalry between India and Australia. The series has gained so much hype and is bordering on becoming greater than even the Ashes. In this regard, for the ICL to expect that they would have been able to steal the viewership from this much-awaited test series, appears like far-fetched thinking.

The second ICL season was inaugurated with a lot of fanfare and gained momentum with the induction of new teams like the Dhaka Warriors. But they forgot to evaluate one very important aspect of cricket in India. The fans are very sentimental and club royalties haven’t been able to challenge the national sentiments. So, what if a test match lasts for over 90 overs-a-day? It does give the viewer a chance to witness some of the best tactics being employed by the opposing teams and see quality cricket.

The ICL managing committee was counting upon the lure of offering a shortened version of the game and fast-food kind of entertainment for the crowds wanting to escape the grind of a test match. Agreed, T20 may be more exciting but it doesn’t offer the kind of history and rivalry that is associated with an India-Australia encounter these days.

The ICL has made another blunder by organising some Day matches. Again, the ICL doesn’t have the kind of star attractions that the ongoing test series has or the forthcoming season of the IPL would have. Thus, organising matches during a time of the day when TV viewership is already limited doesn’t make much sense.