Behind the Screen Saga of the IPL

The Indian Premier League (IPL) made its debut on 18 April 2008. It has come a long way since then and completed its fifth season late in May this year.

  When it was launched, it met with enormous criticism from cricket pundits and Indian media. They claimed that IPL posed a great threat to the survival of Test Cricket. I disagree with that as Test matches have their own aura and are irreplaceable. People also condemned it by declaring it as an anti-national money-making machine; though they love to watch football that’s all about money and clubs. Why blame cricketers then? It was also said that it tempted players from not playing for their countries because of its enormous match fee. It’s up to the players what they prefer. Mahela Jayawardene flew back to Sri Lanka in the middle of the tournament to attend to his national duties. Everyone is free to play or stay back. Even after so much denunciation, it went on to become a huge success with packed stadia and sky-rocketing TRPs. 

Sreesanth-Bhajji Slap Gate

  But India cannot do without controversies in any field. First it were the cheerleaders who were objected for ruining Indian culture and asked to go away. Then the famous Harbhajan-Sreesanth slap altercation showed how one can lose three crore rupees in a blink. The second season had to be shifted to South Africa after encountering security issues in India. The franchise of one-year old Kochi Tuskers Kerala was cancelled after the fourth season, owing to breaching of agreement terms. The most controversial season was that of 2012. Kolkata Knight Riders’ owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was served a notice for smoking in public in Jaipur’s SMS stadium. A month later, he was banned from entering Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai for the next five years following a brawl with a security guard after a match. For the next few days, media was busy covering Pune Warriors India’s (PWI) Luke Pomersbach who was accused of molesting an American woman. After a couple of days, Indian spinner Rahul Sharma and South-African pacer Wayne Parnell (both PWI players) were caught at a rave party burst. It would be unfair not to mention the suspension of five Indian domestic players who were accused of spot fixing.

   Without any second thoughts, IPL is a great entertainer. If the after-match party tradition is wiped out, it will be cherished as a platform that produced top-class players like Shaun Marsh, helped players like Laxmipathy Balaji make a comeback and gave us a chance to watch retired players like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath play again. The schedule needs to be worked out so that players get ample time to refresh themselves and stay fit. It’s high time when people should stop accusing IPL of destroying classic cricket. It is the glamour quotient and the off-field controversies that need to be eradicated to make IPL one of the best and most successful tournaments of the world. Jai Ho!