IPL, a farce?

So the four metros entered the final league of this IPL, with KKR romping into the finals, and CSK managed to tame Mumbai Indians and reach the supposed semifinal. In the first match, main contributors with the bat were Yusuf pathan and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who smashed Varun Aaron and company in the dying overs of the first innings.  Agreed, the 1^st choice eleven for the Delhi Daredevils was shocking, considering the slow dusty Pune pitch. But, fast bowlers bowling up to the bat, almost in the swining arc of Yusuf Pathan begged to slaughtered; deservedly so. 

Fast forward to the end overs of the Delhi innings, Venugopal Rao and Pawan Negi neither withstood the barrage of short stuff from Jacques Kallis, nor had the skill to negotiate Sunil Narine. Of course, Delhi missed a trick, in not sending Ross Taylor earlier, which was the point of debate right from the commentary box in the stadium to the local bar in Delhi. So the result was there to see; KKR will be making their maiden appearance in the final of the IPL. Despite a berth in the final at stake, did Delhi want to win this match with two local lads fighting out the might of the international cricketers?  Had they sent Ross Taylor earlier, would it have changed the fortunes? Well I am not sure about that. But I am sure of one thing; in the second qualifier, Ross Taylor would never bat at a number as low as 7.

I would salute the team management of Delhi Daredevils, if they really felt that the onus of winning in a pressure situation was squarely on Rao and Negi. They failed and failed badly, but at least that is how it is supposed to be, in the sense that substantial contributions from local lads who have never played international cricket, should architect the victories in IPL. Is it not for what IPL is supposed to be organized in the first place??

The second match between Mumbai Indians and CSK, went down as expected, and CSK managed to reach the semifinals. Had it been in the interest of “exposure” to local talent, Mumbai Indians would have dropped SRT, Harbhajan, Dwayne Smith and Malinga, and enter the eliminator match and so would CSK, dropping Dhoni, Hussey, Bravo and Albie Morkel. But now that the result of that match is known, you would also know who the architect of CSK victory was?, It is was Dhoni, Bravo and to some extent Hussey!! What would have happened if CSK had dropped at least two of them, and played probably, Yo Mahesh and Abhinav Mukund? Nobody would have even dared to propose the playing 11 without Dhoni and Bravo. Why? because winning matters the most!!, be it for your franchisee, or your local gully cricket. But wait, winning is at what cost? At the face of it BCCI claims that such tournaments help local talent learn a lot, but on the other end in most of these matches these “supposed local talent” are warming the benches, standing up only the applaud the 100+ mts sixes hit by Gayle, or running to the crease only with a lemonade not a bat in hand.

When the first edition of the IPL made its mark in 2008, it was SUPPOSED to be a local tournament, with opportunities for the local players, to get international exposure, in terms of playing against or with big names of the games, brushing shoulders with the super stars who have made their mark on the world stage. However, the intent was brushed under the carpet of glitz and glamour, the cheer leaders and the start studded teams. Although the cap for number of foreign players per team was put to 4, other important positions in each of franchisee teams were occupied by the members of the Indian ODI team!!! So the remaining slots would be keenly contested by the local lads, which would be a competition in itself. So where is the exposure for the local talent? Would you call bowling to such cricketing divas in the nets as international exposure, huh??

I can clearly remember the batting line up of Deccan Chargers team during that edition of IPL. Adam Gilchrist, VVS Laxman, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Simonds, Rohit Sharma, Shahid Afridi… and it would have been a miracle that someone like a Venugopal Rao, got a chance to bat within those 20 overs. It was different matter, altogether, that the miracle happened quite often, and he did get his chances albeit in the end overs. But the actual purpose of the tournament was to encourage local talent and give them international exposure. The only exposure these players got was in terms of relatively better money, and the after match “IPL Nights” parties, which they never even had a blinking idea about its glamour and girls!!

The members of the Indian cricket team should stay away from this tournament; Period. However, the kind of money that is involved in IPL especially for the players of international repute is extremely lucrative and I don’t see even a single player in the present ODI team, who has refused to play IPL, just to concentrate on International cricket? Coming to think of it, these cricketers get enough exposure in terms of playing 20-20 cricket and ODI, if at all they need any exposure it would at the test level on foreign soil, not on the featherbeds or the dust bowls here. Also, a few players who are in the swan song years of making an attempt to break into the Indian cricket team, need to be politely discouraged from participating in such tournaments.  The two that come to mind immediately are Ajit Agarkar and Lakshmi Ratan Shukla. The last I saw of Laxmi Ratan shukla from KKR, was in the Asian test championship, wherein he was a pretty nippy fast bowler, and a handy bat. This was way back in 1998-99, and I am sure even he does not fancy his chances of making a comeback to the Indian team. Well after a gap of so many years, it would not be a comeback, actually. Then why is that he is playing for KKR? Is he a future prospect for that ever elusive all-rounder that India is looking for? I don’t think so. 

IPL should not be a forum for the above type of players who have past their prime, to showcase their talent. I am not advocating that they should retire from cricket. But if it is in the vested interest of BCCI to filter out local talent from these tournaments, then adequate chances should be given to them. Rajasthan Royals showed it to the world in the first edition that with a bunch of rookies, under an able leader could deliver stellar performances, and went on to win the first edition. Ravindra Jadeja and Naman Ojha were stars in that team. Although Ravindra Jadeja has somewhat found his foot hold now, Naman Ojha has lost it I guess, amidst the stars of Delhi Daredevils!!

If International exposure is the catch phrase, the cap for the number of foreign players in each team, should be reduced to 2; one batsman and one bowler. Agreed, that this would affect the exposure quotient; but at least would ensure that the local players would get some hit in the middle. The IPL should be the litmus test for recruiting the players at least for T20 Indian team. Barring Ajinkya Rahane and probably Shikhar Dhawan, I don’t see anyone else making the cut. 

Take the case of Shadab Jakati, who has been a regular at the CSK camp, since 2008, but his name has never featured in any of the probable list of players for the Indian T20 team. If this continues, then probably the next level cricket which the Ranji players aspire to play, would be the IPL, and playing for India would be a dream buried under all the money, glitz and glamour of IPL.  I fear in future eventually, there would be a list of local players who would retire from IPL, getting the supposed international exposure in all the wrong intended sense. I see only one exception to this norm, and probably the only local supposed talent who would make it to the Indian ODI or T20 team, and bat at position 1, 2 or worst 3, would be Aniruddha Srikanth!!! 

A[V]I