Cricket Leagues of India

The global cricket fraternity has witnessed nine world cups but none has been as fascinating as the prudential world cup held during the summer world cup of 1983. The fact that it changed the financial ramifications and added whole new dynamics to the game is least said about that magnificent triumph by the Indian cricket team of 1983.the game was propelled to a whole new level both for administrators of the game and its players. The most spectacular swansong for any sporting discipline is the triumph of an under dog against all odds & this fairytale was never scripted better than by Kapil’s Devils who triumphed against all odds to pick up the prudential world cup of 1983. The world and the game have moved 25 years since that magnificent date of 25th June 1983. The ICC itself has organized 6 world cups since that Indian triumph, but the 83 triumph remains special in more ways than one. It took the game to a completely new pedestal in the Sub continent. Cricket players could now take their game to a new level with the game becoming a viable professional career, the social status of the cricketers was propelled to a demi god status and inspired a whole new generation to take up the game.
it is important for the authorities governing the game in the country to recognize that if its finest champion cricketer had not achieved the impossible on an English summer day in 1983 then they would not have been able to achieve all the success they have had in all these years.
Looking forward I am however surprised that Indian cricket has not been able to repeat its 1983 success; especially looking at the huge support the game receives in this nick of the woods and the large player base in its possession. If one has to point a finger at this under achievement then it has to be the state of its domestic cricket structure. I believe that this is an area that it needs to worked on so that it can produce an assemble line of top quality players who are ready to play for India when the need arises. The answer lies in league cricket; the latest phenomenon to strike the world of cricket. League cricket should work as talent identification platform; ICL & IPL operating from India should be viewed as the grass root structure to produce the player backup for the national Indian team. Looking at the large player base in India it is imperative that India needs more than one league and its resources to attain the above objective. Therefore the true cricket fan has to lay equal importance to both the leagues and its players & evaluate the success objectively.

Circa June 1983: The English summer saw the 3^rd world cup hosted by England; featuring 8 teams. The Prudential world cup started with the all conquering West Indies starting as favorites to pick up their 3^rd straight world cup title. The Indians came into the world cup led by a young 24 year old all-rounder with a fresh approach keen to establish India’s credentials in the one day format of the game.

In the two previous editions of the world cup (1974. & 197 the Indians had managed to register a sole victory against East Africa.

The Indians were placed in the tougher group B along with defending Champions West Indies, Australia and Zimbabwe. Their campaign got off in style with a victory over the defending champions in their first league game; making a strong statement that they were no pushovers at the Prudential world cup. As the tournament progressed to the final league stage, group B was wide open with Kapil’s boys needing crucial wins over Zimbabwe & Australia in their final two league matches to move into the knock out stage of the tournament. June 18 1983, was the big day when India took on Zimbabwe at Tunbridge wells. The Indians batting first were off to a disastrous start tottering at 17/5, the stage was set for the Indian captain, Kapil Dev who went on to play arguably the best one day innings ever of 175 not out (that stood as the highest individual score in the one day format for a very long time). It was that innings that took India into the semi- final stage. A comprehensive victory over hosts England saw the Indians take on the might West Indies in the final which was the classic David – Goliath contest. Kapil’s Devils, as they were described took the field on the destined date of June 25^th 1983, as firm underdogs; playing out of their skins they created one of the biggest upsets in sports history to be crowned the cricket champions of the world. The victory was the catalyst that propelled cricket as India’s greatest national pastime.

If today’s cricketers have achieved Demi-god status and enviable commercial & social status in the country, then they owe a big part of it to the magnificent team of 1983 who took the game to an entire new level. It was under the astute leadership of Kapil Dev that India discovered its proficiency in the one-day format of the game. Today Kapil is at the helm of affairs at the ICL which has pioneered the city based league format of the game and was the first league to crack the T20 code which has caught the imagination of the modern cricket fan. Along with Kapil are three other world cup winners in Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Madan Lal & Sandip Patil who have embraced the ICL ideology of taking domestic Indian cricket & its players to the next level.

This proves that it is Kapil who is responsible for pioneering new paths in the two shorter formats of the game. Had it not been for the 1983 victory, one day cricket would have not seen the stature it has achieved today. And had it not been Kapils’ pioneering effort in league cricket with the ICL ; T20 would have not got its humongous support that it enjoys today .

It is now for the cricketing fraternity especially the Indian fans to decide who the is the real Moses of Indian cricket ?

The phenomenon of globalization has affected national economies, industry sectors & people all across the globe. It was only a matter of time before it affected the cricket fraternity & today we are seeing cricket under the influence of that transformation.

A bit of trivia indulgence takes us back to the Packer phenomenon, which dealt with rights, social & financial uplift-men of players  In terms of a metaphor we can describe the Packer era as the” INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION” in the world of cricket.

On the other hand the T20 phenomenon and the launch of the ICL & Stanford league is a metaphor of globalization & privatization of the sport and it is for public sector units (read BCCI & ICC) of the sport to acclimatize to the new change or perish.

The BCCI stance to leagues like the ICL has been like the iconic stance take by Ford motors which once shoved products with the approach of “you can have a car in any color as long as it is black”; how relevant that iconic positioning holds today for Ford is anybody’s guess. Similarly the BCCI needs to look at the change in order the sports consumption pattern is undergoing & change its approach towards two areas; first private entrepreneurship in the world of cricket & the basic product dynamics of all three forms of the game.

ICL which started the city league format has seen its innovative format being replicated around the world. With it’s first off the blocks advantage today the ICL has built a formidable resource base in terms of player pool, facilities and support staff and it is for the BCCI to take a stance of either a synergistic approach or antagonistic position. The BCCI needs to understand that with a tight international calendar and large player pool it needs to outsource some portions of its domestic cricket to a private body so that majority of  Indian domestic players receive the best of financial & social benefits.

It is a logical business solution of outsourcing & as a sports organization which prides itself on its financial success; it baffles me as to how the messiahs of modern sports management (Lalit Modi & CO) do not see the benefit of doing the same.

The rich representation of the ICL players in what is probably the oldest cricket league in the world (English County), was as an eye opener for cricket pundits who so far took the bait that ICL was a league of second rung and retired players.

The ICL is in the growth mode & with every tournament has thrown up a stronger player base (look at the progression in its foreign player signing since its inception) & therefore it is logical for the BCCI to bring the ICL under its fold to capitalize on the ICL resources.

Some may say that with IPL the BCCI has proved its might, but on the other hand the IPL has opened a Pandora’s Box which has seen countering polices adopted by old guards (ECB& PCB) against the shift in power. The result is initiatives like Stanford-ECB tie up or a proposed Pakistan Cricket League.

It would be a catastrophic mistake to rest on the inaugural IPL laurels.  New leagues and initiatives will mean new challenges for the IPL in forthcoming editions. Also one needs to understand that the IPL has monetized its product financially to its full potential. This is at least for the next couple of years till they add new teams & increase the IPL calendar. On other hand, Stanford & ICL are in the growth mode; two years is a long time and things may just take a U-turn if the BCCI stance remains static.

The second point that ICC needs to address is the product format of especially its two longer formats of the game, One day internationals & Test cricket.

If they still rest on artificial assumptions that test cricket is the supreme format of the game (based on ex- players opinion) then they will be in for a rude shock. The arrival of T20 format is like the introduction of private news channels in the world of single state broadcaster or private telecom operators in the ruling times of BSNL & MTNL.

This area has been identified by astute readers of the game like Jaideep Ghosh (Cricketnext.com) & Harsha Bhogle (ESPN Star). Jaideep has thrown light of having a 125 over format in tests,(Ref:  www.cricketnext.com).  Harsha has dwelled on the introduction of two innings format for the one- dayers.

It is time for the ICC to consider these opinions with utmost seriousness; after all it survives  in the modern competitive sporting scenario with mass sporting disciplines like soccer , Formula-1 & rugby to name a few.

This is what happens when a country/ organization muscles its economic power to gain monopolistic adventures. The IPL commissioner in his unwarranted wrath against the ICL proclaimed that no county would be allowed to represent England’s domestic structure in the proposed T20 Champions League; represented by an ICL player. This has thrown light on two areas; one the large representation of ICL players playing county cricket & second the actual prowess of the ICL talent pool which shows that it is not a retired player’s league as perceived by cricket pundits & ICL critics.

Finally why is the BCCI making a big fuss about a league that can happily coexist within the parameters of international cricket, at the same time financially benift domestic & international players.

A glance at number of players who face an uncertain future in regard of their county participation:

The IPL was launched as an initiative of the BCCI to capitalize on the big potential that Indian cricket possessed at the domestic level. However the so called proposed champion’s league a logical forward integration of the T20 format for the global cricket fraternity is either a cricket structure launched in a hurry or is a convenient way of side stepping a majority number of players & nations under the fold of the so called global cricketing fraternity.

It is time the ICC takes charge of the situation! How else can one explain a global championship league which does not encompass the West Indies, Pakistan, New Zealand & Sri Lankan cricket? How can one ignore the players from the two pioneer leagues who started the T20 phenomenon in form of the Stanford league & ICL?

It’s a moral question that the ICC needs to answer.

After all both the Stanford & ICL leagues have built up an impressive cricket resource in term of players, support-staff and facilities that will benefit global cricket in the long run.

The ICC has so far not raised any objection in regards to the ICL. It has simply not recognized a tournament because of a BCCI dictum, which somehow defies logic as it is a domestic tournament which has tried to make a commercially viable project with second rung Indian players and former international stalwarts. So why on earth would you want to discourage someone whose resources in terms of support-staff, training & player remuneration takes care of an area long neglected and not in your core area of commercial benefits.

Therefore why not include the ICL top teams in the T20 Champions league so that a larger base of Indian players benefit out of it.

Another pertinent point is what happens to the T20 format introduced last year with all the Ranji teams. Will it be abolished by the BCCI; if not then it is the two top teams from that championship that should represent India at the champions’ league!   After all despite all its success the IPL could not encompass all the first class players playing in India. Therefore the BCCI has to make its stance clear on the future of the t20 tournament with its Ranji teams. However if they only want the IPL to exist as the single domestic T20 competition in India; will these Ranji players be deprived of any opportunity to play the T20 format of the game?

For the sake of these domestic players who missed out on the IPL it is important for the BCCI to continue with its last year’s format of the playing the T20 format with its Ranji teams. If not then the BCCI honchos are answerable to the general public for their valid reasons of scrapping the T20 format at the Ranji level.

I also feel that Stanford league would feel hard done; after all it was started with the objective or reviving the cricket structure in the Caribbean Islands. They also have an ICC approval so why exclude them from the T20 Champions league. Pakistan is today one of the best T20 sides in the world, they were the finalists of the recently concluded T20 world cup and they have been excluded from the Champions league!!!!!!!

Hopefully the ICC understand its responsibility and reconsiders the present format of its Champions league rather than follow a structure provided by the IPL honchos ; who in reality are only a sub set of the BCCI fraternity.

So logically an ICC initiative in terms of a global T20 champions league should encompass all the major nations, leagues & importantly players from across the world without any barriers.

The mushrooming of league cricket in India especially the Indian Sub continent in form of the ICL & IPL brings new dynamics the game is perceived and viewed by the fans.

Till now serious cricket was confined to only international matches or domestic competitions. Most other formats that were tried in form of super sixes tournaments or super 8s was confined to purely off-season entertainment cricket, therefore restricting the growth of cricket.

To its credit the ICL pioneered the city based format and stressed on the game being played with utmost seriousness by its players. The fact that they created 8 competitive sides with the right mix of domestic and international talent saw to it that level of cricket was at par with International standards.

One of the surprises emerging out of the league format of cricket is the dominance of Chennai across both leagues.

A UK based company (cricket 20.com), which has carried out a comprehensive study on all domestic cricket competitions across the globe has thrown up a few revelations.

And surprise-surprise, the two Chennai teams Chennai Super kings (IPL) and Chennai Superstars (ICL) stand in 5^th and 6^th position respectively in the top 10 world rankings for T20 teams around the world.

So does this mean a change in order as far as the nursery of Indian cricket is concerned; a shift from Mumbai to Chennai? I guess it would need more than year one to answer the question.

One glaring fact about both the Chennai teams is in the heavy Australian influence on both the teams. The Superstars has Michel Bevan (Coach) & Stuart Law (Captain) at the helm of affairs. On the other hand it is Kepler Wessels (former Australian& South African player, coach) & MS Dhoni (probably the most valuable player in India) at the helm of affairs.

The calming influence that Dhoni brings at the helm of the national team is what one of ICL’s main find R Sathish brings to the Chennai superstars stable, as deputy captain & captain of ICL-India.

While it has been a masterstroke by both Chennai teams to inculcate the Australian way of cricket into their respective city teams; the domestic players from both sides; Vignesh, Badani, Syed & Kumaran ( ICL ) & Ghoni, Balaji, Bhadrinath ( IPL) have raise their hand to be counted as proven performers at the big stage.

I guess the jury is out, the Chennai sides in both leagues have cracked the T20 code and set the bar in terms of performance level & success achieved, now it is for the other cities to follow suit.

Cricket is a dynamic sport that over a century has reinvented itself, making it relevant for its contemporary fans. Whether it was transition from the 8 ball over to a six ball entity; or to restricting a test match to 5 days, the game has evolved over a period of time.

As far as the supremacy and importance of Test cricket goes, it has to be put into perspective that it is the supreme test of skills of a player and not necessarily the choice of format for the consumer (read Fans). The fact that most opinions about the game come from former stalwarts it is logical that Test cricket and its importance get highlighted.

It also has to do with old power brokers of the game come from England rather than the Indian sub continent. The majority patrons of the game in the British Isles has been the pensioners who have only know test cricket format of the game , which is not the case with the sub continent where the consumer is far more younger and encompasses a larger population base as fans of the game.

However what this has done over the years is, it has limited the sport at the international level and the success is enjoyed by elite players and national teams. Unfortunately the success has not trickled down to the domestic players.

When test cricket ruled the roost it used to be an amateur sport played by the elite aristocrats & survived on patronage. Players were under paid and considering cricket as a full time profession was next to impossible for the common man.

It took the packer series to rectify this weakness by introducing the vibrant One day format which caught the imagination of the cricket fan.

Till today one day cricket is the commercial driver of the sport which also compensates test cricket. This format however did not help explore the possibility to market domestic cricket unlike other sporting disciplines like soccer and cricket remained an international level sport.

League cricket conceptualized by the ICL & followed by the IPL has today made domestic cricket commercially viable, in turn making domestic cricket a financially viable option. A player no longer has to live through the uncertainties of making it to the coveted national team to make a successful career out of the sport.

Also the fact that league cricket has increased the commercial gains enjoyed by international stalwarts, at the same time maintaining the intense sanctity of serious cricket at the T20 level.

This has led to stalwarts of the game like Tendulkar & Hayden extend their support to this form of the game.

I think the game is in for a change in order & its survival will not be depend on the relevance of the ICC or financial condition of the various national boards. The change in order means players rule the roost and the majority of future cricket will be the T20 league format with international encounters confined to the realms of a premium event on the international calendar.

The ICL with its resources has the flexibility on taking the first step making league cricket a year long fixture & it is for the IPL to follow suit rather than escape the opportunity on the excuse of an outdated ICC calendar.

The greatest thing about the T20 leagues is it encompasses a larger player pool to enjoy the commercial & social benefits that the game has to offer.

This in turn makes it possible for any young teenager bestowed with cricket talent to pursue it with single determination as a career option.

Viva cricketers, it is after all they who are responsible for making the game an enthralling experience for the consumers (the single biggest patron of the game rather than ICC or cricket boards) of the game.

It is inevitable that comparisons are drawn between the two city based leagues plying their trade out of India. Sometimes some similarities between the two leagues seem spooky but are real.

One story that has caught my attention is probably two of the greatest batsmen in Sachin Tendulkar & Brian Charles Lara playing for the IPL and ICL teams respectively, representing the magnificent city of Mumbai.

When Lara aligned himself with the pioneering ICL by taking charge of the Mumbai Champs side he has the pressure of maintaining Mumbai’s supremacy in the new format of the game, after all he had taken over the helm of affairs of the side representing the nerve centre of Indian cricket.

Lara could not maintain Mumbai’s supremacy to the T20 level. The dismal performance of the Champs was a major setback for the fans of ICL for whom the biggest draw in the first year was undoubtedly Lara. The second tournament of the ICL too received a setback with an untimely injury to the master south-paw and was probably the only disappointment for the ICL organizers and its ever growing fan base at the Edelweiss 20s Challenge (ICL’s 2^nd T20 tournament). To its credit the ICL has found new heroes and new champions (both in terms of players & teams) to catch the imagination of the domestic Indian cricket fan.

The IPL which was a bigger platform saw Mumbai represented by the Mumbai Indians & the other great batsman and a natural son of Mumbai at the helm of affairs. Almost in his spooky resemblance to his ICL & West Indian counterpart, Tendulkar was injured for the first half of the inaugural IPL season. Even once he set his foot in the arena of city based T20 format, Tendulkar had produced an under-par display of his humongous talent; like Lara, Tendulkar found it difficult to crack the T20 code.

In the larger picture though there can be no better metaphor for Mumbai Cricket than Tendulkar and Lara at helm of affairs of their respective teams; all three stand for great achievements, supreme dominance and pedigreed reputations. It is also important to note that Mumbai cricket, Tendulkar and Lara would be keen crack the T20 code which has emerged as the latest vibrant phenomenon in the world of cricket.

Mumbai cricket and its patrons are proud of their rich history and its contribution of to the game. A Mumbai cricket fans’ vociferous and sometimes almost fanatical support remains unparallel in the history of the game and it would be interesting to see how the two legends devise methodologies to crack the T20 code on both personal and team fronts in the future editions of the ICL & IPL.

Also noteworthy may be the fact that with T20 expected to be the next big thing in the world of cricket; will Mumbai be able to register its dominance in the latest format of the game or will the mantle of nerve centre of Indian cricket pass onto a Chennai (strong teams in both ICL & IPL in the form of Chennai Superstars & Chennai Super kings), Hyderabad (Hyderabad Heroes) or Chandigarh (Chandigarh Lions & Kings X1 Punjab)

The IPL has had great success in commercial terms and we have to give it to the organizers that today city leagues have made cricket a viable career option. It is no more a Russian roulette for a young promising teenager to pursue the game as a career option. A player no longer needs to make it to the elite national team to make a living out of the sport and that is what is going to get more youngsters to pursue a career in the magnificent game of cricket.

Unfortunately with all the good achieved by IPL, it needs to introspect the negatives so that it can come out bigger, better and more beneficial for cricketers in the years to come. A lot has been written about the slapgate and franchisee-player rift and I guess with time it will get sorted out. My focus with this write up dwells on the fact ;if the IPL has been able to encompass the humongous talent pool possessed by India. The fact that a promising player (Ranadeep Bose) who has been on the periphery of the national team has been left in the cold by his franchisee because of what can be termed as embarrassment of riches in terms of fast bowling talent in its possession. This makes a strong point that the present structure and size of the IPL cannot encompass the entire Indian pool of players.

The city based leagues was originally formulated to provide domestic talents the exposure of playing at the highest level as well as tapping the commercial viability of combining domestic talent with international players to produce some high octane cricket matches for the cricket crazy consumers of the sub continent.

It is therefore imperative for the authorities concerned to see to it that all the domestic players get to take part in the IPL. This may be more important than getting stars to take part in the IPL. After all the foremost objective of the IPL are not commercial gains but strengthening of Indian cricket.

It can be best summed up by what ace commentator Harsha Bhogle was quoted saying in a TV program “Indian cricket is a commercial success but not a cricketing success yet “.

Purists may question what good would T20 cricket do in the development process of a budding cricketer. I guess for every cricketer worth his salt Test cricket is the ultimate test. One can understand when players (both present & former) vouch for the greatness of test cricket, maybe even perennial fans like yours truly prefer the test format of the game but I Guess it is a bit of self indulgence from both players and perennial cricket fans like us to except the mass supporters (especially TV consumers) of the sport to follow test cricket. SO to draw a conclusion just of basis of the players perception can be suicidal in world of modern competitive & commercial sporting environment.

Another problem with test cricket is that it is more of an elitist format of the game which can only accommodate the cream of the talent pool in a country. However the players who play the game are rightly justified in formulating Test cricket being the real form of the game as it is the ultimate test of skills of a cricketer with the bat & ball however it is not the best format to catch the fancy of the consumer of the sport and this is where the glaring contrast lies in terms of perception of the sport from the point of view of a consumer vis a vis the players of the sport.

SO what doest T20 do for the average cricketer?

I guess it is the best format for a player to make the sport a viable career option; it is also the best format for him to get recognition from the consumer; & importantly the most viable platform to gain exposure of playing with the best in the business. These in my personal opinion is the importance of T20 cricket and the best way forward for unearthing new talent and explore new pastures for the game of cricket.

So the big question is can the IPL encompass the humongous talent pool in the country? The answer is no. it needs more than 8 teams and a 44 day calendar to do that.

So what is the solution? Either grows from a 44 day annual calendar to a 4 month calendar or a radical step to recognize other leagues like the ICL plying out of India.

The second option looks viable as it will not disrupt the international calendar at the same time encompass the entire humongous pool of players.

Which sane cricket body would not like to tap the resources of the ICL ; which possess coaches like Cullinan, Bevan, Rixon & Emburey; support staff of international quality of the likes of Jock Campbell & company. I think a ceremonial official approval of the ICL would help the BCCI tap on the resources created by the ICL as well probably pass on the commercial benefit of league cricket to one & all associated with domestic Indian cricket.

My personal perception of the IPL commissioner Lalit Modi (may be I am wrong) is that he is commercially driven in his objectives for Indian cricket. Nothing wrong with that , but in the larger picture of Indian cricket it will have to be Sharad Pawar who will have to show true leadership qualities and think out of the petty BCCI think-tank policies and focus on nurturing talent & betterment of the cricketers (both in terms of exposure & commercial gains).

Will Pawar exhibit his skills will be a wait and watch in the next few days.

After all as the head of the premier cricket body in the world it is his moral responsibility to see to it that a prodigal talent like a Rayudu, Nechim or Murtaza get full opportunity to excel in the field of cricket rather than being ostracized due to draconian restrictive & monopolistic policies and at the same time see to it that a Neeraj Patel (played only 2 IPL matches) & Ranadeep Bose (no opportunity at the IPL) get full exposure of the city based T20 format.

When the biggest brand of Indian cinema (Bollywood) announced his alliance with the world of cricket by picking up the franchisee of the Kolkata IPL team, it was supposed to be the next best thing to happen to cricket since it won the T20 world cup.

The star to his credit brought in some fresh but amateur enthusiasm into Indian cricket viewing as a franchisee- entrepreneur.

Making a strange bed fellow with the incorrigible honchos of the BCCI, his contribution to the Hype, hoopla and tamasha of the IPL has been unparallel and is probably the single most influential factor in making the IPL the biggest reality show in the country.

The media portrayed him as the best thing to happen to Indian cricket almost portraying him as the sports messiah, an image he earned with his brilliant performance as the hockey coach in chak-de.

I guess Shahrukh Khan; otherwise an astute media personality took his reel-image far too seriously and fell into the trap of taking his reel-role into the real world of professional cricket. He almost over shadowed some of the biggest cricketing names on their turf and that is what has led to his downfall in the world of cricket. This was a fundamental error because if you are associated with Indian cricket then never side line its heroes.

Bollywood may be big and happening and you may be the king but it can never replace Indian cricket as the biggest national pastime, this is best exemplified by what happened to pachvi pass when it was pitted against Indian cricket.

I guess Shahrukh needs to learn fast that cricket is serious business for its consumers (the general public following the sport). They will dance, sing and make merry with you but will not allow any franchisee to touch the sanctity of the sport so dear to them.

The BCCI is the biggest culprit it should have briefed its franchisee’ about the dynamics of cricket and the process of handling cricketers. Small things like dressing room access, opinions and suggestions in regards of cricket related decisions should have been clarified at the beginning of the tournament.

The present Fiasco where the king of Bollywood has been conspicuous by his absence when the chips are down for his team & also bringing his ego ( after all he must be used to his demi god status in his own industry) as a major distraction to his already dented side, don’t read good signs for him as a sports entrepreneur.

I guess it’s a lesson for Khan to understand the working of the BCCI jokers.

His own statement of being an anti-establishment guy means a lot of friction for the future as the BCCI deals with its own players and consumers as an autocrat would with his countrymen during the medieval times.

Any one who has followed Indian cricket for long will know the flip –flop attitude of the BCCI.  their crack down on the players after the2007 world cup fiasco and then taking a u-turn in announcing the commercial IPL shows their lack of consistency and unsporting attitude of leaving a player/ franchisee high & dry when he needs their support the most.

My advice to Khan, take a leaf out of some of the American league owners or the EPL league owners especially in dealing with   players or officials and also the general public.

IN the final analysis the next time you step in a cricket stadium behave like an entrepreneur rather than a rock star or an entertainer and things will fall in place. Secondly in true heroism & your self proclaimed anti-establishment attitude lock the horns with the bulls of the BCCI, hopefully that will help you contribute to Indian cricket.

I think what Shahrukh needs to do is garner support from players like Saurav, Sachin, Dhoni ,Yuvaraj and company to restore the supremacy of cricketers who are the major attraction for the consumers of the sport and show the officials their right place , that would be the chak-de effect cricket needs from Mr. Anti – establishment .

After all isn’t it a shame that the most powerful cricket nation does not have a player union to counteract an autocratic board infamous for pulling off its support when needed the most??????????