I am quite sure that almost every Indian when enquired, would concede that cricket is an active part of this nation’s vocabulary. But with everything quintessentially Indian, I guess cricket is also something which people lend their beliefs and passions to and forget to observe it as a phenomena influenced by the empirical realities of this world. No wonder for us cricket is a religion and ‘Sachin’ is our infallible God.
Well, I don’t see myself as a traditionalist or as a purist, but what bothers me is that the ‘20-20’ is not being sighted as an alternative for the longer version, rather as a marketing bonanza. Cricket has always been a ‘magical chicken’ and cricketers ‘the unique selling point’ in this cricket crazy country. But what happens when an ‘economically booming’ India wins the ‘20-20’ world cup and something like the Indian Premier League (IPL) is formed? Industrialists and film-stars own cricket clubs..... The cash strapped BCCI grows richer by a thousand crore and an elite group of players whether old or young, retired or not manage to get offers above 3 crores and a lot of publicity. Sounds good but does it augur for cricket- the game we all say we love?
The whole system till now has been such that a budding cricketer has to perform first at the junior level, then at the state and zonal level (Ranji and Duleep trophy) and finally graduate to the highest level of international cricket. Domestic cricket is played in front of empty stands and it hardly gets its share of publicity. Thousands of colts put their careers on stake and follow their passions, starting from textbook techniques till professional cricket gives them an opportunity to showcase their skills, very few end up actually fulfiling their dreams.
The deplorable conditions of domestic cricket and basic infrastructure for our unofficial national game are also not alien to us. The grounds and recreational centres might have improved in the recent past but still nowhere near world-class. It seems that the Board for Control of Cricket in India has actually controlled (pun intended) the rightful growth of the game.
According to my understandinng, the introduction of IPL means a very selective (also elite) process development for the game. Betterment of infrastructure facilities of a few grounds gets preference over others. The logic of attracting new blood falls flat on its face as only a select group of players who are currently playing at international level, even those who have long retired get to participate in the competition, meanwhile simultaneously no domestic cricket takes place for the three months. All in all, it adds up to an isolation of sorts on the domestic cricket scene; which is the actual grooming ground for youngsters, it sees no quality development rather a growing negligence.
If the trend continues then a complete overhauling of the game and its infrastructure would become necessary, one which changes the way cricket has been played till now. Maybe a sort of Americanized ‘base-ballish’ version of cricket. A transformation in the game then seems imminent not only in the developing countries of the sub-continent but soon in countries like Great Britain, Australia, West indies, South Africa, under pressure from the richer boards. And all this will happen in the name of making cricket more popular.
The conflict of format has always been the biggest source of dilemma for the game of cricket. But that does not mean that we completely turn a blind eye towards the changes in the game and wait for the next assault. Something more sensible is needed in this onslaught of neo-liberalism on the game; otherwise many of us could be soon mourning the death of cricket.
PS: This is an amateurish piece of writing, expressing my personal opinion. Criticism, comments, opinions, all is welcome.
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