The IPL that concluded yesterday has given initial stimulus to many new trends in the world of cricket. The tournament started as an answer to ICL by Subhash Chandra. There are many who called it a game of money or rather business to earn money. At the end of the day it was found that the team buyers are not necessarily making money in this circus. Some of them fell flat as their teams full of heavyweights landed nowhere. Mallya's team is a good case in point.
The tournament also was discussed at length due to issues off the ground. The cheerleaders and the racism accusations turned out to be the spice in the preparations. Celebrity participation in the game and BCCI norms was another topping. Business tycoons showed their frustration as we saw in the case of Mallya. The last minute changes in the venues of the matches and the ticket prices further ensured that the media will have something to talk about. On the top of everything the likes of Harbhajan-Srishant opted for the icing on the cake.
However the tournament has given a positive stimulus to many positives also. For the first time in the Indian history there is a clear indication given that the icon-worship is coming to an end. The performance in the game became the more important thing than the past track record. Each wicket and every run in the match became the measuring scale of the performance than what the player has done in the past. The norm of at least having four players with age below 19 years in the team acted as a big positive and which made the tournament youthful. We could see many youngsters debuting the international stage who have not even seen the domestic first class cricket. Guys from the small towns and overseas have delivered better than the icons. Next year when the IPL will be played there will be many who will be rerated and we will see the real worth of these guys. For time being let us admit that this is not the end of the game. In fact, it is about to begin. |
