IPL - The League of Dreams

Whenever I think of the Indian Premier League and it’s coming to life five years ago, the romantic in me pictures Lalit Modi as Ray Kinsella, the protagonist of the movie “Field of dreams”. Ray, a small-time farmer, hears a voice in his corn field telling him, “If you build it, they will come”. He interprets the voice as a commandment to build a baseball field and even at the risk of losing everything he has, builds one where his farm stood earlier. As he steps on to the completed baseball field, Ray discovers that anyone setting foot in the field can see the ghosts of “Chicago White Sox” legends playing. When the news spreads, hordes of people from places afar travel to this middle-of-nowhere village to witness the spectacle. Somehow, when I think about Modi and the IPL, I can clearly hear a voice, very similar to the one that told Ray to build his “Field of dreams”, telling Modi to build his “League of dreams”.

Unity in diversity: Not everyday does one get to see a South African, an Australian, a West Indian, a Bangladeshi and an Indian playing for the same side.

Whatever prompted its inauguration, five years ago when the IPL kicked off with an extravagant opening ceremony, it was truly a league of dreams. The opening edition of the IPL, holding true to its said and unsaid mottos, pulled in both crowd and revenues far exceeding many international games. With charismatic franchise owners adding further glitz to an already glamorous game, the reach of cricket was higher than ever. And the relatively new shorter format of the game drew in the lot who are always game for quick entertainment. Above all, the thought of having all the legends from recent times at one stage, working with each other to face off against some others, was too good for any cricket fan to pass up. I mean, who wouldn’t want to watch Brett Lee partnering with Kumara Sangakkara behind the wickets, while bowling to Mike Hussey.

The journey leading up to the inaugural edition of the IPL was not a smooth one. There were a few hiccups along the way, in the form of objections from other cricket boards, media associations, and a lot of skeptical cricketers. Any remaining shred of doubt about IPL’s success was annihilated by the opening match. Amidst all the hype and buzz around it, the very first match of the IPL was a huge success, with Brendon McCullum delivering the crowd exactly what was promised, with an unbeaten 158. The IPL did not look back after its flying start; with each game more thrilling than the previous one, the tournament that managed to keep the spectators on the edge of their seats for nearly two months came to a fitting conclusion when Rajasthan Royals were crowned the victors of the inaugural IPL after edging out Chennai in a last ball finish.

The Glam factor: Franchise stakeholders like Katrina Kaif and Preity Zinta are among the various celebrities that frequently adorn the IPL stands

The unprecedented success of its first season made IPL the toast of the cricketing community, with everybody wanting a piece of it. All the cricket pundits who hitherto expressed concerns over IPL luring cricketers into early retirement and buying the loyalty of cricketers away from their international sides, were now singing songs of how IPL helped build a platform where the youngsters could play alongside their idols and how it built up collaboration and camaraderie among the various cricket-playing nations. All the cricketers that rejected IPL saying no amount of money could coax them into signing up, were now falling over one another to do exactly that. After failing to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion in their negotiation with the government of India about security for the matches (at the time of general elections), in a move that made it clear that IPL (read as IPL administration) would not compromise for anyone, it was decided that a more-than-willing Cricket South Africa would host the second edition of IPL.

Continued success in the second season prompted the inception of two new franchises, even as the tournament was moving into its third season. By the end of a third successful season, the new franchises, representing Kochi and Pune, looked all set to make their IPL debut in the fourth season. And in the blink of an eye, just like another twist in an archetypal IPL match, it all turned on its head when Modi, the architect and the commissioner cum chairman of IPL, found himself buried neck-deep in controversies. After Modi’s ouster, while it looked like IPL season 4 would rise above the controversies, and blast off at full speed with 10 franchises under the new leadership, what even the new administration failed to or, perhaps, refused to recognize was that too much of anything quickly tends to become cloying.

When what started as cricket packaged with glitz and marketing slowly transformed itself into marketing packaged with cricket, people started getting tired of all the “Citi moments of successes” and “DLF maximums”. Even some of the cricketers, caught up in all the razzmatazz enveloping the tournament, started to forget that they were still playing cricket and not some new game called “Entertainment”. It is natural to feel a certain degree of revulsion after watching your favourite cricketer, who is classy enough to get boundaries through elegant stroke-play, repeatedly attempting mindless slogs and heaves in search of boundaries to “entertain” the crowd. After a slightly dampened reception for the fourth season, more controversy ensued when Kochi, one of the new franchises, got terminated by the BCCI for breaching the terms of their agreement.

While IPL gave birth to some of the most innovative cricket shots, the wild desperate slogs were also unintended by-products

For five years the IPL managed to steal the limelight during the summer, be it through spectacle or through notoriety. Now in its sixth season, the IPL may have had its fair share of controversies; it may be viewed as a crass form of the game by many of the cricketing elite; it may be something which you cannot publicly side with for risk of losing face or sounding un-intellectual. But as long as cricket is given the respect it is due, for the hundreds of retired cricketers that are provided an opportunity to continue in the game they love either directly or indirectly, while being handsomely rewarded; for the thousands of youngsters, like Jasprit Bumrah, that are not only given a shot at making the selectors’ radar or a one-time claim to fame, but also the means to continue down their chosen path without having any financial qualms; and for the millions of cricket fans, who are treated to 75 action-packed matches, the IPL will still remain “The League of Dreams”.