I have tried. And tried. And tried . To resist the temptation to write about IPL and its on going saga , but as this long read pretty much shows , I have failed. Anyway , this is much more about cricket . And my love for it. So here goes. For the gentleman's game.
I first started watching cricket with the 95-96 Tri Series in Australia featuring West Indies and Sri Lanka. Something about the numbers caught my fancy. I was obsessed with numbers during my early stages with life ( just to make it clear, I was not overtly good at maths . Maybe I had ADHD.) However number were something that fascinated me. And here was a game which could induce an orgy with the calculations that could be made. Averages, Strike rates , Run rates , reqd run rates and what nots. It was love at first sight . Since then its been 17 odd years . And what a great time of cricket it has been. Greats have come and gone. Rules have been reformed . New formats have been invented. And obviously IPL has happened.
When the IPL debuted , it wasn't exactly a breath of fresh air . Its much maligned predecessor ICL , saw to that. But somehow it changed everything. It gave us cricket addicts a different reason to cheer for cricket. It wasn't much of a secret that cricket's short format was dying an untimely death. It was not that things were not happening in the 50 over format , but it had become extremely stale . And what we had seen in the ICC World T20 ( the Joginder Sharma over and the Misbah brain fade , you remember ? ) had sufficiently whetted our appetites and left us wanting more. And it was at this time that Lalit Modi , took an existing idea and wrapped it up in parties (rave and otherwise) , foreign players and dollars , lots of them. And thus was born the IPL. The auction was something that drew our attention , with some pathetic players being bought up for huge money and some modern greats and made for T20 players being ignored. It took off famously. It had its thrills and spills . But most of all , it had what that sultry Vidya Balan as Silk Smitha says with that hot pout "Entertainment! Entertainment ! Entertainment ! " . It gave us a reason to believe in teams and support them. Us people who had all floated into EPL and soccer , wanted clubs to support. And with IPL franchisees coming in , as Ravi Shastri would say " This is just what the doctor ordered" . And we went on with the MI vs CSK battles . Some even had heated fights in the TV rooms of our hostel. (Remember the Biswa Bhai and KK bhai fight . !!!) All in all it was a great first tournament. And there was a romanticism in the fact how Rajasthan won , minus all the gold and glitter , that made IPL so famous. Suddenly , the Asnodkars, the Kulkarnis, the Gonys were household name.
The success of the IPL made the people involved in it dizzy. I mean the parties reached height that would shame some billionaires . At least it would have , if they were not at the IPL parties. Lalit Modi , was now the messiah for TV cricket and he kept reinventing the tournament , with things made for advertisements like DLF maximums, the strategic timeouts, the direct to internet feed etc. Things were all rosy and good.
The state cricket associations of India have been known to be instrumental in all that is wrong with the cricket of the country. Where talent matters to nought and nepotism rules. It was under these circumstance that A rather stern faced individual , N Sreenivasan , took over the TN cricket association. His immediate ascension plan had become clear to all. He had enough money. Now the power of it all , was in his radar. Sure enough he started making climbs in the BCCI hierarchy. His influence was evident from the way rules were changed to the conflict of interest clause and he was allowed to buy CSK.
His interest in cricket was a pure business one. The cement market was doing good and with no risk in the foreseeable future , it was time to invest time in some other profitable industry. And in India , what better than cricket. The alarm bells had sounded. To be fair none of the owners had any notable previous interest in the game. Perhaps that in itself that was worrisome . But as the seasons progressed , we could see other owners slowly but surely turning up at the games. Nita Ambani , Preity Zinta, SRK all were regulars at their teams games. We relaxed. Obviously cricket had won over the business part of the IPL. We heaved a collective sigh of relief.
We could not have been more wrong.
As seasons of IPL rolled on there was a mistrust from all concerned about Srini Mamas conflict of interest. I mean how could a BCCI shareholder , have his money invested in only a group of players. Isn't that absurd? Even the Supreme Court felt that way. However , this was just an observation and not a judgement ( which is pending ). And thus Srini mamas juggernaut kept rolling on. IPL was starting to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. Players caught at rave parties, misappropriation of funds by the then IPL owner , Lalit Modi. It was all going too far south.
IPL matches are fixed! This was perhaps what most IPL haters and even a few balanced individuals have stated more than once in their lives. And come the sixth season of IPL , they had a chance to say "We told you so!" . Well some what. Although evidence of matches being fixed have not revealed itself ( Come to think of it, It would be highly unlikely that matches are fixed. Why fix matches when you can make insane money by fixing overs ?) , but when Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan were held for questioning and later arrested , a cloud of desperation hung over cricket.
I was not a rampant cricket watcher since 2011. The world cup win had somehow taken away any desire to watch any more cricket matches. But somehow I still loved the game. It was like this . Imagine you have a long lost friend. You have not talked for a long time. Yet, somehow in your heart of heart you absolutely love them. You love their company . And everything else. Mostly however , you just reminisced , your days in the sun. It was same with cricket and me. When I heard the news of spot fixing and especially of Gurunath whatever, I wont say I was shocked. But i was deeply disheartened. Inspite of the cynic in me yelling "I toldya!" , it was sad to know that it was all true.
Lets make it clear. I don't believe MSD has had anything to do with the fixing scandal. I would be shocked if that would happen. But , it is obvious from the team selection that it doesn't hurt to be a Chennai player. Maybe it is just that captain trusts you when you have already played under him. That makes sense too. However some of it becomes unbearable at times. For supporters and cricketers alike.
I think it is high time that , cricket is handed back to the people who deserve it. And with due respect to Sreenivasans of the world , it is high time that cricketers took control of the BCCI. We can't afford any more gaffes like the Sivaramakrishnan gaffe. We can't have people selected just because they play in the President's club team. We can't have any more spot fixing. It is high time that the board and the cricketers come clean . And we cant have any more I will setup a probe, lets have a committee bullshit doesn't cover it. I am sorry , it just doesn't.
The scariest thing about it all is , how we as a nation have now lost faith on the cricketers we used to swear by. The MSDs of the world don't inspire confidence when they don't say a word , in the ruse of not wanting to upset the guys. The Kumbles, the Sachins , the Dravids have not stepped up enough to reassure the faithful and in turn they have lost their faith. We are all starting to think the unthinkable. What if this was fixed , is plaguing our minds. Worst of it all, we have now an assumption made that all interesting matches with turning points are fixed. Which is not fair to anyone. Neither the cricketers who have given their blood and sweat earlier so that the present crop can enjoy the laurels, nor the administrators , nor the groundsman , nor the spectator. Especially the spectator.
I don't care if Sreenivasan doesn't step down. It is better if he doesn't step down.Either way it doesn't matter. With or without him , BCCI needs to execute one the biggest cleanup ever in history. Without that an early death of cricket in India , is now not seeming that impossible. It needs to be done. If not for the next crop of youngsters who take up the bat or the ball, at least for that person in the crowd who shouts "Sachin ! Sachin!! drumbeats...".
You owe us BCCI. And its time you deliver.
