Soon I was reassured by my affable head of school that cricket was a summer sport in Australia and that is the reason I see the football codes all over the media.  As i started watching the rugby matches, my previous experience only being watching the young Jonah Lomu mesmerize the world with his strength and speed in that wonderful rugby world cup of 1995 in South Africa.  I soon realized that the rugby played by L omu was stark different from the ones being played by the Brisbane Broncos club, further quizzing  from my side led to a few Aussies mates with Victoria bitters and XXXX in their hands, telling me this is the real thing Rugby league different from Rugby union which i was exposed to in 1995 in a hotel room waiting for my MBA admission in poona univeristy.

A lot of prodding later, despite not conquering the finer technical nitty-gritty I realized that Rugby league was a derivative of  rugby Union, much like the emergence of One day international cricket from the mother format test cricket.  For me a novice at rugby the parallels between ODI & test and their comparisons were similar to the two rugby codes. I  found youngsters  and the working class always telling me about their preference of Rugby league which for the un-initiated is played with 13 players, is a faster format than Union which involves 15 players. On the other hand the elite and old timers always told me how Union was more free-flowing and a treat to watch from a purist angle.  I am sure by now most readers in India would understand why whenever i heard of the Union Vs league debate cricket and it’s two formats then came immediately to mind!

Now unlike cricket most players specalize in a particualr code. However you do have players shifting codes the last player that did so who comes to my mind is the burly Wendell Sailor who sifted from League to Union to play in the World Cup for Australia.  This is however not a common phenomenon as players pick up a particualr code suting their intrinsic skills .  In cricket we find the t20 Vs Test debate regularly and if t20 palyers are an inferior lot as compared to tests. Yes test cricket when at its best is the greatest platform for testing the skills of a player; however many a test player is not a certainty for the T20 format, which despite its slam bang  image, requires certain intrinsic skills which should be respected. I belive that  in cricket we have been fortunate to see players of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Jacque Kallis, Shane Warne, Watson who have mastered all three formats of the game. However these are supreme exceptions and as the game moves forward ( especially the progession of the t20 format which is just about 10 years old) , more and more players will have to choose either the limited over format (ODIs & T20) or test cricket. It is not about inferior skills! It is simply a matter of identifying which format suits your skills the best. A world of caution, this is not about money or remuneration or riches of T20 that we are talking about, which is a different topic altogether. I sincearly belive that a top test player should be able to garner a remuneration package equal to that offered to the superstars of the T20 format, especially those donning IPL colors. That is something for criket adminstrators to work upon. In the final analysis on that front I beleive that connsiuers of Test cricket need to be confident of the market of test cricket and its audience and should market the format as aggresively as the t20 format!

I belive that in another two to three years players will be comfortable to choose their format and specalize in it. Yes you may see transfers where a compact batsman, a tear away fast bowler or a attacking spinner may shift from the t20 format to tests. On the other hand you may find a lot of players in their twilight unable to manage the rigours of long overseas tours and the marathon format ; relinqushing the longer format to play the slam bang T20 format.

However this is a fact that will be difficult to swallow for adminstrators as well as the players who have enoyed the benifits of participating in all the three formats. However this change is radical and how the adminstrators and players would react to it when reality strikes is a thought to ponder! 

As always would urge you the readers to provide me with feedbacks on the same.

My assumption is that the czars of cricket administration have never had the confidence that test cricket on its own steam can be a commercially successful product. Their inference is that test cricket is something that is important emotionally , but needs to be compensated by limited overs cricket to survive. The above scenario may not be true for countries like Australia and England, where test cricket still is big. However the financial fulcrum of world cricket , India and its constituent apex body BCCI, operate the test format on low priority. This is what ails test cricket’s growth and needs to be addressed with immediate effect.

I believe that the recent two tests , one featuring australia and south africa and other involving West Indies and India, have been eye openers. If wickets are sporting, the balance of the battle between bat and ball is maintained, we will get entertaining close encounters resulting in high spectator turnout and coinciding higher TV audiences.

If test cricket has to prosper then it should be a stand alone entity, commercially and more importantly in terms of operations. What this would do is remove the complacency from the present set up of cricket administrators , especially from India. There is no doubt in my mind that the present day revenues of Indian cricket establishment comes from IPL and ODIs; the BCCI mandarins treat tests as a honorary format that they need to compensate. There is no sense of initiative or focus as they generate revenue for the tests from the broadcaster, who too treat tests as a necessary evil they need to broadcast, while the bread and butter lies in the shorter formats. The same results in no initiative or mandate to produce sporting wickets, which is imperative to produce a good test cricket product. The present mentality involving test cricket in India, is to produce batting strips that would convert into spinning wonders, day 3 onward – resulting in a win for Indian expected to leave all satisfied. This is far from the truth and certainly not what the average fan wants- he wants a great competitive contest, with of course the emotive rider of India doing well! The proof of the same lies in the significantly higher interest generated in the 3rd test that India drew as compared to the first two tests of the series that India won!

Test cricket fans have to be more vocal in their demands for competitive test match cricket. For the format to take precedence over every other format, it is important for the connoisseur of test cricket to express the need to see competitive test matches. Their voice has to be heard by the top cricket administrators of the world, especially those in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. And this is only possible when test cricket lovers are not apologetic anymore of their preference and show their strength in terms of numbers . The basis of my write up lies in my belief that the base of test cricket supporters in especially the top 8 test cricket nations of the world, is large enough to play a significant voice in world cricket.

For test cricket to survive and exhibit itself at its best; is to be played on sporting wickets and run pro-actively as an independent operating body. It definitely does not deserve to operate as a subsidized product of the shorter format of the game,. Test cricket connoisseurs have to believe that the format has a big enough fan base to economically survive and prosper on its own. The same can be achieved only when. a separate body is made accountable for test cricket,its growth and success; much like how you have a separate IPL governing council.

What a separate body to govern the longer format of the game also will do is , it will prioritize domestic cricket structures in top nations like India. Look at the interest level amongst the general public for our Ranji trophy structure. Rather than a first class competition, it has languished as a upcoming cricketers development league. That is unfortunate if one considers its glorious past and stories of epic battles fought in its rich history. A separate body would imperatively allocate resources and focus in the promotion of the tournament, as it would the base of the longer format( international test cricket). Similar to what IPL governing council does for T20. More importantly it would be free from distraction of. Having to organize the shorter formats of cricket!

As always my views are based on personal assumptions and gut feelings. I would as always, love to get your feedback along with contrary views, to comprehend the topic better.

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My purpose with this write up is for Govt of Goa to recognize the huge market that presents itself for earning humongous revenues from the sports betting market in India. Not many know that betting is a state subject; i.e if maharshtra or bengal or delhi want to make sports betting legal, they can go ahead and do it! It is completely in the hands of the state and the center and its tall bureaucracy need not be activated.

What makes Goa ideal for becoming the first state to legalize sports betting -
1. Tourist destination with economic and demographic potential equivalent to a Macau and Philippines.

2. Indians, like Goa as a destination. They would love to take off to goa to indulge in some sports betting and tips, amongst the pristine sun ,sand and beer of India’s No-1 holiday destination.

3. Smaller state and proactive to consumers and tourism- the goan state has an advantage of being a tourist friendly destination . Its bureaucracy is used to working around consumer oriented industries like tourism, making them proactive to facilitate policy and decisions to activate a sports betting structure. Also with a vibrant casino and poker industry Goa is better geared to kick off legal sports betting, than any other state in the country.

Benefits for Goa

1. Huge revenue numbers – to give you an idea- the last world cup in India saw betting figures touching around Rs. 50000 crore for a single tournament. On a conservative estimate an all year round revenue for legal betting in Goa can be estimated at around Rs. 100,000 crore. Betting companies usually operate on 80 :20 ratio. Where 80 percent of their revenue is pay out to winners. The remaining 20 percent, can be split (50:50) between the operating companies and the state government ( revenue sharing basis). This gives a state like Goa with a population of around 14 lakhs- revenues to the tune of 10000 crores per annum. Add to this the investment in infrastructure , tourism growth and employment – Goa and Goans would become the true kings of good times.

I understand the above write up seems radical and socially detrimental to a few . But the benefits are enormous vis a vis the ills. This article is just throwing peripheral light on the potential of legal sports betting. Your comments and valuable feedback should see me offer you further in-depth analysis on this subject.

Sports federations’ needs to understand in which category of sport its sporting discipline operates in! Whether it belongs to the ‘mass sport’ category or if it is a niche sport?  Niche sports are soaked in tradition and have a small but fiercely loyal fan base- e.g. Golf, Wimbledon (tennis) and Test Cricket.  In such sporting disciplines or tournaments the aim is to maintain the traditions, any aberration to it will result in antagonizing the consumers of the sport.  On other hand are mass products to be successful have to always look for sizable numbers. All their viewers (actual & potential) can be categorized into heavy users (loyal fanatic), medium users (high level of interest), Light users (sporadically follow the game) and Media users (not necessarily exclusive users & majority of them follow other sources of media entertainment, along with sport).

The numbers usually come from the light users and the media users and as defined above, they are not necessarily loyal and have to be coaxed from other sources of entertainment. There is no doubt that hockey belongs to the ‘mass sport’ category and will have to compete with other sporting disciplines and other entertainment avenues, to garner their share of spectators & viewers.

Hockey In its Present avatar – it is very important to understand that a majority section of the consumers (growing up in the 1990s and 2000s), have never played the game and have followed it sporadically. This differentiates the prospective WSH consumer from say an IPL or ICL consumer. The first set of consumers will be the ones following European football & other ball sports; in turn will invariably draw comparisons between our national game and the globally known beautiful game.  Hockey is a sport that is faster, especially the astro turf version, as compared to Football. This makes it sometimes slightly difficult to pick the ball and action on television. Also a smaller playing surface makes eleven players per side, look a congested sport. So  what is the solution?

WSH should adopt the RIC Charlesworth shorter hockey format-Every Hockey fan across the globe knows Ric Charlesworth.  For the uninitiated Charlesworth is a former great hockey player, a world champion both as a coach and player. One of the sharpest brains in the game of hockey: Charlesworth has developed a format where the number of players will be reduced to eight or seven, relax the ‘carried foul’ rule – which technically will make the game more attacking, faster & free flowing.  The first tournament with this format will be held in Australia in October, exactly two months before the proposed start of the first edition of the WSH. It is imperative for the promoters & organizers of WSH to inspect and adopt this format for its league.  Imagine if IPL was played in the ODI format or the tests format! Would it have met with the same success? Your answer determines the importance for WSH in tweaking field hockey from its present avatar to make it a successful mass-sport & television friendly product.

The identification of that fast paced sport boils down to none other than India’s national game- HOCKEY.

Why Hockey?  If one identifies other potential sporting disciplines with mass appeal, the ones that come to mind are volleyball and football! However and more so unfortunately, both these disciplines do not have the Indians standards on par at world standards. Despite the growing popularity of football in our country, one needs to understand that the popularity & following exists for European or world cup football and not the Indian version, which is still some years away from achieving top global standards. That boils down the identification of a sporting discipline other than cricket, with pan India potential; boiling down to Hockey. A rich history, coupled with a contemporary Indian team that remains a top ten hockey nation of the world makes Hockey the ideal sport. Additionally the Indian brand of hockey is unique & attractive. The Indian players still are some of the most skillful and right up there with the best in the world.

World Series Hockey will formulate Hockey as a career option for the average young sportsman

Ever since the launch of the World Series Hockey , an initiative by Nimbus sports with IHF; one sees roadblocks  &  threats from parallel bodies and the FIH ( premiere world body for Hockey).  This is the most unfortunate thing that one could see, to an initiative that goes with the mission statement – Reinvigorating Indian Hockey.  The critics and opponents of this league have been misleading the Indian fan by stating that players have been choosing commercial interests over country.  These people need to understand that alone national passion cannot bring about a following for the game! Despite an adequately large talent pool, the number of kids taking to hockey has diminished.  The major reason for this can be pointed to lack of lucrative commercial & social value in playing the sport. What a player needs is a sport where even if he does not get into the national team: he/she could make a good living, earn a social standing and exhibit his talent to a respectable audience base. This is what league sport does to a sporting discipline! It helps garner larger following, generates decent player-salaries, helps set up job opportunities for support staff, coaches’ et al. Most importantly it encourages a young enthusiast and his family to confidently pursue the game as a career option. This is what IPL has done to cricket and is exactly what WSH will do to Hockey.  For the people at FIH and HI (on war path with IHF) my humble request would be – this initiative will build the brand value of hockey, creating great opportunity for   bi lateral series between nations, delivering unprecedented financial revenues! My advice to FIH and HI is simple, concentrate on international hockey (test series between nations et al) and leave league hockey to nimbus and IHF which will act as a catalyst for your international operations, both in terms of popularity and monetary benefits.

Why WSH is a far better product as compared to PHL from ESPN – Star

Well as ironical as it may seem; comparisons between the PHL, India’s first sports league and WSH is inevitable. However I would like to state and as rightly pointed out by the Nimbus chief Harish Thawani, WSH is building all the right ingredients (home and away, franchisees et al) to make it a complete sports league. The PHL was a half baked job, where the players were fit into different teams as is done is school competitions.  All matches were played at a single or two destinations, taking away the true home and away flavor of league matches. Also important to point with WSH is the induction of franchisees. Multiple owners reduces the capital investment burden and propagates fair & dynamic competition between franchisees, resulting in diversity that sets the true flavor of league sport.

In the final analysis this brilliant initiative will transform hockey from an amateur sport to a professional sport. It will change the landscape of Indian sports from a ‘single sport following nation’ to a multi-discipline sporting nation. Hockey today galvanizes the Indian public only once in 4 years during the Olympics. This according to me is a gross injustice to a sport that is our national sport, enjoys a rich legacy & sees us competitive at the highest standards of the game. This is Indian sports’ moment of liberalization. It will bring in riches and social recognition for the sport, its affiliate bodies and players. In turn it will make sport a way of life for a vibrant young population.

I personally believe that WSH has a far more significant role in shaping the future of Indian sport, even more than initiatives like the IPL.  I would urge opinion makers in Indian sport, a vibrant media et al- to take up the cause of WSH as much as they have for cricket and IPL. The benefits for the same will be for all to earn in the long run.

The Dew Factor- Most of India’s home cricket and sub continent cricket at large is played in India’s winter season. This sees dew as a major factor governing all games.  It is no hidden fact that the toss in such a scenario plays a major role. The team winning the toss fields first and almost has 90% of the match in its grip. Bowlers bowling second are at a disadvantage, spinners are almost made redundant and chases of the highest of targets are made a mockery of! As a student of the game Tendulkar felt this was a serious threat to the sanctity of the game & therefore proposed the two innings format. What happens under his proposed situation is that both the teams get to bat half of their overs when the dew is absent, while they bat their respective remainders under similar conditions of dew. This makes the match more equitable and removes the dew factor as a deciding factor in results of the game.

Of course Tendulkar had promised to discuss the same with Majumdar at length in future! As a cricket fan I am sure me and many of you are waiting to prod the genius further on his proposal! However let me make a few points as to why Tendulkar’s proposal for future of ODI’s makes absolute sense.

1. Majority of ODIs are played in the bilateral format – There is no doubt that the best testimonial to the ODI format came in way of the resounding success of the 2011 world cup. What with it being played in the nerve center of world cricket-India; topped with the hosts winning it! But the question is will the format still hold the interest for four long years, before the next world cup. The interim period is flooded with only bi-laterals save the Asia cup or certain triangular series. The on going India verses West Indies ODI series is testimonial to the fact of weaning interests not only amongst viewers, but also the top cricketers themselves. Also as is the case with the present Windies series, most bilateral matches feature the balance between the oppositions lop sided in favor of one team. The difference in standards between the top four nations and the rest is growing by the day; making matches one sided and predictable. Grafting of one’s and two’s in the middle overs, dibbly-dobby harmless wicket to wicket defensive bowling is certainly not what the viewers want to see; irrespective of its effectiveness in winning matches! This is what the cricket committee of ICC needs to look and introspect at! Especially with the ‘food for thought’ provided by the greatest ODI cricketer of all times.

2. A More interesting and challenging Format Two 25 over innings with only 10 wickets ( both innings included) will test strategies, captains and skills of the players at the highest level. Imagine a match between India Vs Bangladesh at Chennai. In the present format if India scores 350+ batting first the chances of you switching channels at half time are much more than India batting the first 25 overs scoring 150/3  runs , followed by Bangladesh scoring  125/4 in its first innings. It is your guess now to decide if you would switch the channels by the start of the second India innings or not. If you are not salivating at the prospect already, imagine a similar situation when India is playing a stronger opponent like Australia or Pakistan in similar scenarios. I think Tendulkar has just scripted the biggest pot-boiler for the cricket fans of the world.

3. T20 League cricket is here to stay- All said and done whether you hate the IPL or not! The fact is it is here to stay. ODI cricket has a legacy and has probably delivered two of the best five great moments of Indian sport over the last three decades. It would be a shame if ODI cricket would become extinct just because administrators and analysts of the game did not tweak it with changing times. Rather than waiting for IPL or league t20 cricket gobbling up the ODI format; administrators would be well advised to tweak the formats with changing times. The air time for these matches too remains the same if not more, making it equally interesting for broadcasters to sell their inventory. The ways forward for ODI cricket, especially in its bilateral form, is to co exist with T20 cricket. And for this it has to reinvent and repackage itself.

The biggest critics of this change would argue that India is the world champion in the existing format and that a change will dilute its world champion status. However I would tell them that the status is not permanent and 2015 will see India play the world cup in Australia, under conditions that suit opposing top sides more than them. Four years is also a long time to carry on the euphoria of a being a world champion. Numerous bi-lateral series in the interim will dilute that status.  Tendulkar may have already established his legacy on the field; whether his precursor in the field of cricket administration gets its due debate is for the ICC and cricket boards to decide.

 His take was that it was a valuation bubble that could burst any time. I was shocked as I have seen him carry out a detailed evaluation process on the IPL model, for the last three years right since its inception. He proclaimed that when he first heard of the IPL he thought it would be on the lines of the EPL and major American sport leagues; to his astonishment he just sees it as an ego trip for business men, cine celebrities and an IPL czar taking everyone on a ride.

His biggest disappointment was laid in the fact that it was a big time opportunity wasted to introduce league and club sports culture in India.

 The gentleman says the following are the apt acronyms of what IPL stands for and his reasons for the same:

 Indian Parivar League - since more than 40% of the teams are directly or indirectly co-owned by the IPL Commissioner and his extended family, there is no transparency in the bidding process, no body is informed about the exact holding of the stake holders and their actual investments. Genuine bidders are sidetracked and family and friends of the commissioner end up winning the bids. The media has well documented the relationship between the commissioner and his coterie who own the teams.

 Indian Pre-determined League – the team owners had clearly predetermined their cities and the price to be paid for the same. The gentleman cannot believe that the city his consortium and organization had bid for, could not win the bid. He clearly pointed out how a city close to one of the key IPL honcho was chosen over the city he had bid for, confining his choice of city, as a mere catchment’s area. According to the gentleman the city he wanted as the host of his proposed IPL franchisee, still contributes more money than that generated by the entire catchment’s area and host city, represented by this team. He is of the clear opinion that this team has the IPL honcho as its biggest stakeholder.

 Indian Pre-programmed League – The biggest revelation came when the gentleman told me that all the matches are fixed. In the earlier season these was being speculated, but now even the media has information that all the matches are blatantly fixed; according to him. Interestingly this observation was mentioned by the gentleman on Friday evening, He asked me to which teams; I felt were favorites for the two matches the following day. The first had the resurgent KKR Vs the depleted Rajasthan. The second match featured Mumbai and Bangalore. My answer was KKR and Mumbai. He asked me to check the odds with some bookies; I found the matches according to the bookies were in favor of the teams I had chosen….. The gentleman told me that results would be a complete reversal to my prediction…… by 11.30 PM on Saturday night I knew I was wrong, the team that had the odds stacked against it, won….. Rajasthan and Bangalore won despite being the weaker sides on that day.

 Indian Poverty League – since no single team has yet attracted any valuation or buyer in reality even after 3 years reflects on the true valuation and financial status of the IPL. The gentleman has authenticated proof that the Rajasthan Royals has been on sale since the day they got the franchise and have tried to sell to every Indian Business house with a higher valuation. Likewise Deccan Chargers was on sale throughout 2009 at the floor price that had won them the bid. In both case no buyers came up till date, simple reason; the P& L statements was dominated by a prominent red color.

Indian Playacting League – since all the players are completely disinterested and only going through the motions in this jamboree; play acting in front of the cameras to fool the gullible viewers is part of the diktat from the IPL organizing committee. Players are encouraged to show their disappointment when the camera focuses on them, when the team in a precarious position. Similarly over the top celebrations are mandatory acts, delegated to the players post a pre-scripted win.

 Indian Pompous League – since the job of the camera crew is to follow the Commissioner as he makes his every move on the ground. The great ex-cricketers have been bought off to sing praises to him and forcibly applaud the game and the format. Eg   He has passed strict instructions to a former Indian captain to call him the Moses of World Cricket. As the production is managed by the IPL strict instructions are passed to the commentators and experts to validate all the IPL commissioner’s statements: like when he shoots his mouth off, regarding the IPL becoming bigger than NBA etc in the future.

 Indian Public duping league – since the gates of every match are thrown open within half hour of the start of the match and still empty. Strict instructions are given out to the event organizers and franchisees’ that packed stadiums are a must….. If as a public you are buying tickets before the match, take the gentleman’s advice wait outside the stadium till about 15 minutes after the match starts, you will be guided to a free seat inside the stadium.

Indian Pre-primary School League – As the gentleman has found out from his friends in the cricket community, associated with IPL as the supports staff across the teams; it is humiliating for the former cricketers and coaches of International repute,  to take diktats and suggestions from team owners especially the women folk, presented the team by husbands and boyfriends. The cricket knowledge of our starlets and Bhabhi is outrageous. Bhabhi called Ambati Ruyudu, “Ambawadi” post the first match. The less said about Shilpa and Preity the better- a whole blog can be dedicated on the diktats from Bhabhi’s & Didis’.

 Indian Political League – since the overt political power struggle between the Commissioner and BCCI officials & MCA is out in the open now. The last is not heard on this front. You also have an irked home minister and members of the ruling party who are looking at taking on the wily commissioner, who slapped them on the face, by taking IPL-2 to South Africa.

 Indian Philandering League – because that’s what everyone seems to be up to especially Shane Warne and his fellow international contingent. Take a look at Warne’s unfit physic and hidden abs. Yuvraj with his new girlfriend, post a humiliating loss of his team in Bangalore, are just scratching the surface in what is cricket’s version of Love, Sex and Dhoka. The gentleman says that as he was privy to a few post match parties in IPL 1 & 2; if he had a hidden camera with him, he would make the Bollywood flick Love Sex and Dhoka appear Pale.

 Indian Party League – The gentleman believes that he is fine with peripheral packaging of a sports product with the glamour quotient, provided the central focus on the product remains sport. However what everyone seems to be interested is, in the party and Bollywood tamasha, since there’s no cricket left in this circus. The players are seen more in action, off the field that on it. In a few years time teams may party on the pitch itself instead of playing cricket.

  For the readers of this blog, all I can promise is that I have blocked appointments with the gentleman periodically over the next few days as the IPL dupes its viewers and the cricket fans…… I am sure you are waiting for the next revelation from the gentleman on the happenings in and around the IPL

 Till then happy reading

 I have been following India cricket since the early 1980s. the one day world cup was what caught my imagination and propelled me from a ordinary follower to a passionate fan. One-day following soon shadowed into test cricket appraisals. After all they kept preaching that a true cricket fan always follows test cricket. One thing about test cricket is that it is the best test of endurance of a player. How can I forget the Dean Jones innings in the tied test in 87, followed by Gavaskar’s unsucessful marathon to save the test and series against Imran’s Pakistan in Bangalore! However such moments were far and wide between. At the same time, we could not follow the Indian team overseas except for the One day international matches . So a magnificent win by kapil’s devils over England in the mid 80s was followed only througha half an hour  highlights capsules. Even the great 1989 series between India and Pakistan; that debuted greats such as Tendulkar and Waqar Younnis was given the miss by the only state broadcaster present in India. Again what we saw live of that series was the one day format, between the two fierce rivals.

The stark difference between the Indian and an English or Australian fan lies in the fact that he/she has witnessed test cricket which is fast, result oriented and aggressive. This is in stark contrast to the games dished out in the Indian subcontinent. Even former Indian and Pakistani captains have admitted that the fear of loss saw them play out for draws. Slow batting featherbeds also helped their cause.

There is a ironical debate as to which is a greater rivalry the ashes or the Indo- Pak encounters. My take is that in terms of test cricket it is the ashes ; while the one day format honors goes to the Indo- Pak contest.

 Experts may disagree with my inference, but my whole analysis is based on a spectator’s inference. I would divide Indian cricket into two eras;” pre 1983 world cup” and the post 1983 world cup era. I know I am being grossly unjust to magnificent cricketers like Wadekar, Solkar, Vishwant and the magnificent four spinners ( Bedi, Prassana, Venkat & Chandreshekar); to name a few. But my problem lies in the fact that my generation (following cricket over 25 years) has just not witnessed enough good quality test cricket at home.

For us the great Indo- Pak rivalry for us evolved at Sharjah in the one day format. It had all the modern greats; Gavaskar, Imran, Kapil , Miandad to  Akram & Sachin play hard and fiercely  to define the other of all cricket battles. In the same corresponding period India and Pakistan did not play each other in test cricket for over a decade and that is where the lack of interest in test cricket amongst subcontinent fans originates. The tragedy of test cricket in the Indian subcontinent lies in the fact that Waqar Younnis and Wasim Akram never faced Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid in their prime.

 The situation looks even grimmer today. One major factor for rapidly diminishing popularity of India test cricket lies in the retirement of Anil Kumble. Kumble was the champion cricketer for India in every home series in the past two decades. The Indian batsmen would pile up the runs and Kumble would pick up a fifer in the second innings to give India victory in most home series.

Today as we celebrate centuries and milestones of our batsmen; our bowling without Kumble just cannot pick up 20 wickets( a mandatory requirement for a test win). As I write this piece Tendulkar is inching his way to another century, inconsequential and completely devoid of any chances of an Indian win. I was told cricket is ateam sport, defined as a  battle between bat and ball, however 1500 runs scored with neither side picking 20 wickets seems just not the prescribed great game of cricket.

Alas both products did not realize that consumers don’t take to a product just because it is expensive. The operative word for success is “value for money” and that is where both products fail. The metaphor of the failure in both products was two towering figures; unfortunately standing in the dusk of their careers; Sanjay Dutt & Glen McGrath. Unfortunately for them the promoters tried to milk their humongous brand equity without reading their present status. Both are in professions where fitness and form is of paramount importance; their expanding bellies puffed up cheeks read a completely different picture. Another towering figure that did a great damage for himself who coincidently played his part in both products was the Mozart of Madras- A.R. Rehman. What on earth was the brief given to the maestro by the promoters of both products- god alone knows! But both the Airtel Champions League Anthem and Chigi Wigi did not work with the audiences. Somehow it was just not something expected from a genius of the caliber of Mr. Rehman. I would however rest the case in favor of the Music maestro by saying that the main culprit was somewhere in the promoters brief to him, for  both products

As Bollywood is not my cup of tea let me just concentrate on the Champions League. There are a few fundamental errors in the league and unless they solve these; they can never reach the status of the UEFA; they want to emulate. T20 cricket today has a few fundamental errors. A T20 format player is caught between loyalties to club or country. This is something Soccer players never face. It is high time players choose the format they want to represent. The way forward is to have a separate T20, One Day and Test side across all major cricket nations’ right from the grassroots level. This is aka Rugby structure of the world. IF you play Rugby league you stick to it and don’t switch to Rugby union. However if a T20 player can represent his country in a test format he would need to give up his T20 code to take on test cricket. This is something Rugby league players do as the world cup of Rugby is played in the Rugby Union format.  This will take away all discrepancies and statements like “T20 is like dessert”. Every format needs to be respected equally. This would also take away the hypocrisy practiced by many players and cricket experts who enjoy the financial benefits of T20 format while praising test cricket. I would seriously like to see how many players would take up Test cricket and forgo T20 league cricket. I am sure after a certain age it is best to not indulge in too much of desserts!

Most importantly what the bifurcation of players into three different codes –aka rugby; will create a   proper window for t20 cricket. The present format of the IPL – One month 60 odd matches is too much burden on the players and fans consuming the game as a sport product. It makes the IPL more of an event rather than a league. A league should ideally be played over 3-4 months with no more than 4 days/week itinerary, very much like the English Premier league.

I am sure most of you would see this as a deathblow for test cricket- but let us bestow some trust on the spectators and beauty of test cricket. I am sure it can survive on its own without any protectionism and embargos on other formats of cricket

In my pursuit of the above answers I tried to understand the history of the t20 format of the game in India.  Going through the archives of sports reports; I was marveled at the U-turns taken by the BCCI. A modern day Greek tragedy sees the most powerful cricket board that resisted the t20 format of the game initially do a flip around  to own the biggest T20 cricket property in the IPL. I thought it is right for you the cricket fan to know how the t20 format took birth in India and how the IPL today is proving to be a Frankenstein monster for the BCCI and Indian cricket.

My first glimpses of t20 cricket were when English county teams started playing it. I saw a prophetic Ravi Shastri claim in England; on an India overseas series that the format did not make sense to him and could never succeed. Back home the czars of Indian cricket too tried to avoid the format with the primal fear of it eating into the money spinner of those times “One-Day cricket”. As ICC and rest of the world embraced the shortest format of the game BCCI resisted it.

Again during India’s tour of England in 2007; BCCI had to reluctantly select an Indian team for the inaugural t20 world cup. Somewhere down, the Indian establishment did not want to add to the success of the T20 format with its humongous financial clout and support base. It strategically asked five of its top players Tendulkar, Dravid , Ganguly, Zaheer and Kumble to withdraw themselves from the world championship. An Underdog side led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni was sent to South Africa. The rest of that campaign is history.

At around the same time India was witnessing its first comprehensive private participation in cricket in form of Essel group’s ICL. ICL looked to work around creating a brand out of the much languished and abandoned domestic Indian cricket and its players. Their sport product was packaged with some International players not part of their respective national squads. It was a masterstroke- without affecting the fabric of the international game. The private entrepreneurial effort suddenly was foreseen as a solid sports product with the best of India’s domestic talent pool and high quality broadcast. The BCCI knew that a private entrepreneur had realized the opportunity to create a viable economic sport product at the domestic level never before tried by any cricket board of the world. Instead of collaborating and encouraging private involvement in its operations; the BCCI took an antagonistic approach to the ICL.

The situation provided an opportunity for the megalomaniac marketing wizz kid of the BCCI ( Lalit Modi) who also harbored dreams of starting  a private cricket league like the ICL in the 1990s. Modi had flirted with sports broadcast with limited success till then. He brought ESPN to India but soon cut off the tie up. He had invested some money in trying to poach international players to create a private league with the 50 over format but was met with stiff resistance from BCCI. On pretext of countering the ICL, Modi sold the IPL concept to the BCCI – who without thinking of the long term repercussions joined his bandwagon.

Most experts had predicted that the IPL was a global giant that would swallow the international fabric of the game. However in their approach to destroy the ICL –cricket establishments around the world (some readily, others reluctantly) agreed to support the IPL and block out the ICL. In reality the IPL was a bigger threat than the ICL for the world cricket establishment. The ICL was based on working with domestic Indian players and mixing them with former or over the hill but recognized international players to create competent t20 cricket teams with city based following. On the other hand IPL was based on creating a league on basis of their star value of present day international players. Imperial franchisees were brought in with the bait of owning the game of cricket. This worked completely opposite to the initial ideology of the BCCI which wanted to restrict the T20 format to protect the other two longer versions of the game, especially its golden goose One day – 50 over format.

The irony of this eventful T20 chronicle today sees the BCCI facing a Frankenstein monster in the IPL . The IPL was created to blunt out a domestic ICL, but more than the ICL it has managed to hit on BCCI’s biggest brand – “ the national cricket team” fondly known as the men in blues.