The success of IPL has shown that a city-based format could be the way to go in all forms of cricket.
The IPL has just grown a little bigger — from eight teams in 2008 to 10 teams in 2010. As in the case of every healthy two-year-old, it can be guaranteed that further growth is going to take place. It is unlikely that cities like Ahmedabad and Nagpur will be waiting in the wings for much longer, and the addition of Kochi and Pune might just be the start of an expansion programme that could go on for a few years.
The astounding success of the IPL is not unprecedented in the world of sport. If anything, cricket has been rather tardy about jumping onto the league bandwagon. City-based leagues exist in many team sports and they inevitably attract the best talent from across the world, just like the IPL attracts the best cricketers. Football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey and many other team sports have grown thanks to this, and leagues have helped players from small countries emerge as global superstars. Football stars like Michael Essien of Ghana are known all over the world because they play in the English Premier League. It works the other way as well, when foreign imports also help the league by attracting new audiences. NBA has won itself a support base in China thanks to Yao Ming, who plays for the Houston Rockets.
City-based leagues have always benefited sport and sportspersons, and there is no reason to think that the IPL will swallow up cricket as we know it. However, it has to be admitted that what makes IPL a little worrying for cricket purists is the fact that the format in which it is played is very new. Other leagues adhere to the basic tenets of their sport, which have not changed for decades. Football maintains its 90-minute two-half format whether England is playing Brazil or Manchester United is playing Real Madrid. Similarly, the NBA might have added innovations, but the basic duration and format remains the same.
The IPL, however, comes in a format that was unheard of even five years ago. It comes in a tightly packed three hours, where the game is decided in 240 balls. True, there is a bat, a ball and a 22-yard pitch, but everything else has changed. Anil Kumble puts it aptly when he says the bowlers have become the “labour class” while the batsman holds all the aces. Test cricket was about aggressive bowlers “testing” batsmen and the contest that resulted. In T20 it’s all about short bats, long handles and defensive bowling. Fast bowlers are retiring from Test cricket because they prefer formats where they need to bowl just 24 balls instead of 24 overs. Young cricketers opt for making a mark in the shorter formats because it gets them instant recognition. All these developments spring from T20 cricket, and IPL is the showpiece of the format.
The ICC can hear the alarm bells and is talking about innovations like night Test cricket which will be played with pink deuce balls. The Champions League is a tournament that pits T20 champions from other countries against the top three sides of the IPL attempts to ensure that the benefits from the startling growth of the IPL are enjoyed by other cricket boards across the world.
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However, none of this will make those who worry a little about Test cricket and a lot about one-day cricket feel any better. One-day cricket, most experts feel, will be the first casualty to T20. Tests, they feel, are more resilient and will exist for a niche audience of purists (in this context, that’s a euphemism for fuddy-duddies). If we lose one-day cricket, a lot will be lost. The 50-over game offers a more equal contest between bat and ball, allows a team a little time to recover from a reversal, and the game puts a premium on skills which is sometimes lacking in T20 cricket.
Will we, in time, see a situation where IPL and other leagues will have to step in to help preserve one-day cricket? There is no doubt that Chinnaswamy Stadium will be packed if Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Chennai Super Kings in a one-day game. IPL is popular not only because a match finishes in three action-packed hours, but also because it has tapped into the hitherto untapped potential of city loyalties.
Mike Atherton has said country versus club is a no-contest because club-based sport will always prevail. Firstly, player choice is not restricted to one geographical entity. Secondly, a support base exists so fans will also flock in in large numbers. For example, Sanath Jayasuriya’s fans in Sri Lanka would be supporting and following the fortunes of the Mumbai Indians.
It is time cricket administrators accept that the future lies in city-based teams and begin to innovate in that space. Who knows, one day the D Y Patil stadium may be packed to watch the Mumbai Indians play the Delhi Daredevils. The only difference would be that the game was to be played over five days and not just three hours. The game is changing, and everything’s possible.
(The writer is director, Gameplan, a sports marketing company)