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The success of the Indian Premier League has been integral to the growth and development of franchisee leagues in India. Over the past few years, there has been the Indian Badminton League, the Hockey India League and more recently the Champions Tennis League and the Pro Kabbadi League. The latest to join the bandwagon is the Hero Indian Super League.With 410 million television and internet viewers and 1.5 million turning up to watch games at the stadiums, there is absolutely no doubt that the first season of the Indian Super League has been a blockbuster! In fact, the second most popular sports event in India has beaten the most popular sports event on a number of aspects. Here are 5 aspects where the ISL trumps the IPL.
#1 Controversy free
From Harbhajan Singh’s infamous slap to late night parties; from players being caught in rave parties to spot-fixing!!! The IPL has this uncanny ability to grab the headlines for reasons which are in no way related to on-field activities. The first season of the ISL has on the other hand been relatively controversy free. Apart from a few wrong red cards and a disallowed goal, there was hardly any controversy both on and off the field.
Further, the IPL has for a long time been looked upon more as an entertainment event than cricket. The ISL on the other hand cannot be given such a tag. It has given us some real substance on the field.
Here’s hoping that the ISL remains controversy free in the coming years.
#2 Pan Indian Outreach
“Divided by politics, United by NEUFC”
Political apathy has for a long time alienated the North East region from the rest of the Indian population. The ISL has done a remarkable job of bringing in the region into the Indian sporting fraternity. The region has for a long time produced players who have represented India at the national level and so this franchise is in a way a recognition of that. Shillong Lajong plays in the I-League and Royal Wahingdoh has recently attained promotion but neither of the two had as much an outreach in the region as the North East United FC.
The IPL had a team from Kerala but it was disbanded a few years ago. The ISL came in and filled the void. This sports loving state needed something of this kind and the Kerala Blasters’ got a tremendous reception from the fans.
The ISL has reached places where the IPL has not. Including the sides from Guwahati and Kerala has been integral in ensuring a pan Indian outreach for the ISL.
#3 Picking of Players
The auction of players in the IPL is not exactly a system that many people are fond of. People have often compared it to the purchase of slaves as depicted in movies. The ISL on the other hand, has taken the good decision of not picking players by auction. The teams follow a player draft system.
In this system, players are picked from a given group of players. Each team gets just one pick in a round. The advantage of such a system is that all teams get equally good players and this has been one of the reasons for the competitiveness of the league. Further unlike the IPL where a players gets 14 crore and some other hardly gets 1 crore; here the distribution of money among the players is more equitable
#4 Popularity
Cricket was our number one sport long before the IPL came into the picture. Hence, the IPL has not really made much of a contribution towards popularizing the game.
The ISL has in this regard been extremely successful. For a long time, Indian football was hardly followed by the majority of the population. The glamour, glitz and the quality of football has brought the people to the stadiums. In its inaugural edition, the ISL has become the highest watched league in Asia and the fourth largest in the world.
Further over the years, the IPL has been engaged in one controversy after another. The truth is that with the ongoing Supreme Court case and question marks being raised over the people running the Board, it would not be a surprise if the popularity of the IPL begins to wane. No doubt that a placard at a Kerala game read-
“Move over the IPL, ISL is here!”
#5 The League and Beyond
The ISL was started with the basic aim of developing Indian football and taking it to the next level. Personally I did not find any such aim behind the IPL for when it came to cricket, we were pretty good. The IPL was an opportunity for the BCCI and the team owners to earn profits after profits. Some might say that the IPL has brought to the forefront some young players while some also say that it was integral to India’s World Cup win in 2011!! However I would also like to remind that we just lost another test on foreign soil. The IPL has made our players forget the art of playing Test cricket! Apart from the team owners earning money and players taking home eight digit cheques; I am not sure which way the IPL is heading.
The ISL on the other hand has a more clear and distinct objective. The franchisees have to spend a certain amount of money at the grassroots level. Thus, there is no denying that the ISL goes beyond just the tournament itself. The team owners here want to earn profits as well but there is a definite cause that has been considered here. And it is this cause that makes the tournament special!
