It was a big vacation for me after putting an end to the decade and half long school life. It was the same year I got distracted by the game, the very same year as the Indian Premier League saw its debut season, and it was 2008. This year made a beginning to a very complex design of the game.
IPL – Seasonal or Perpetual?
What is being loved? Remains a million dollar question till date- the game or the players or the owners or the state? The county goes gaga about the Tonner (Sachin) but may support the team owned by the King Khan or still be loyal to the state and support someone else. The game is not as enterprising as it was. The charm is lost.
In 2008, when the summer broke along with it came this new-groovy-league to be followed up. The movie circuit became awestruck with the degree of reception and postponed their releases. Parks, beaches, theatres, food-courts were not empty but had scarce amount of people. To be not too flowery and flattery, IPL 1 was a real thunder which was considered to be the same every year. The gala, parties, chats, goodies, toys, accessories all came to an end and was revived back in 2009.
People went from “IPL – IPL – IPL – IPL – IPL” in 2008 to “Oh! It is IPL” in 2009. The level of enthusiasm was the same only with the hard-core fans. Cricket lovers stay loyal as usual, the newbie groups come and go like the monsoon with unpredictable intensity. The name and the charm IPL grew along with a bit of depreciation.
In 2011, as per the TV ratings, it received the lowest ratings of all season (maybe we had too much of the game after the World Cup). I never expected a game to be rated on a scale which is generally used for sitcoms. Not fair. If you could see the entertainment in it-good, but if you could see only the entertainment in it, it is better you switch to some other channel. Seeing and celebrating for a team and the game lasts and that would only keep this format sustainable.
Is BCCI greedy about this entire affair? Then it should be called as the “Business Centric Cricket in India”.
All of us want this IPL to be a grand fest, however if such a model is adopted, then IPL would become like Indian Economy wherein the leagues would not have stiff rivals and eventually rich team would get richer and the latter part is known.
Tags: BCCI, Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL, IPL 2012, IPL 5
