Disclaimer: The opinions in this article are mine, of a purist cricket fan (somebody who prefers the Test and ODI cricket formats over T20).
The year was 2011. The date was April 2. We just won the Cricket World Cup with M.S. Dhoni ending the final match against Sri Lanka with a historic six. Sachin won his first world cup. Joy was in the air. Fireworks everywhere. Strangers became close friends. Parties all around. The whole country was jumping for joy.
And on April 8, in less than a week mind you, all of that excitement and joy came to a screeching halt because — *insert IPL trumpet music* — a new IPL season has just started.
It’s been 28 long years since we won the world cup. So our fans deserved more time to celebrate and digest our great world cup win. But this nonsense called the IPL got in the way too soon and ruined the fun for all of us.
Personally, I was pissed and yelled all kinds of slurs at the BCCI for letting that happen. The BCCI could’ve planned ahead. They already knew the World Cup final was happening on April 2. Even if India wouldn’t make the world cup final, they could’ve planned and waited for at least 2 weeks more to start the IPL season. But no!
And that’s what it is. Just like how the U.S. government meddles in the affairs of so many countries and destroys democracies around the world, the IPL — fortunately and unfortunately — runs the world of cricket and ruined the game in a way for the purist fans.
T20 Vs. Test cricket is like a Lamborghini Vs. Toyota Corolla
Just to be clear: I’m not against the IPL or T20 cricket. T20 is fun. It’s fast. It’s loud. It’s exciting. And it’s filled with drama. And for a change, I do want to watch a quick game of cricket instead of a drawn-out ODI or a test match.
T20 is a dumbed-down version of cricket
But here’s the thing: T20 cricket is a dumbed-down version of cricket that’s made entirely for TV and business. And IPL is T20 cricket on steroids. It’s an Indian cricketing festival, as they say.
If you’re a casual cricket fan (not a purist fan), you don’t passionately choose to watch Test cricket. You always choose the IPL if you had the option. Just like nobody chooses to drive a Toyota Corolla if they had the option to drive a Lamborghini. But the Corolla, even though it’s slow and boring, has a place on the road for several reasons.
Only T20 has a shot at making cricket an even bigger sport
Coming back to T20, here’s some sad truth: there’s no form of cricket other than T20 that has a better shot at making cricket a popular global sport. The ICC had tried with Test Cricket and ODIs, and unsurprisingly, that hasn’t worked. They had failed with Test Cricket and ODI cricket too.
On that note, there’s a new cricket league coming up in July of this year called Major League Cricket in the U.S.A., the world’s biggest commercial market. There are going to be 6 teams across cities like Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, and Washington. So, here’s the proof. T20 always wins.
Now, let’s switch gears and talk about the IPL specifically. When the IPL first started it was incredibly fun. I’m from Hyderabad, so I was rooting for the Deccan Chargers. And back then, honestly, the league was really good. Of course, it had problems. But I was hoping that those problems will go away in a few years. Unfortunately, they only became bigger and bigger.
The problems with the IPL
1. Ads, ads everywhere.
This is obvious. They’re literally shoving those ads down your throat now. Ads on the screen and ads everywhere in the stadium. I mean, every player on the field looks like a walking billboard out there.
“Find some open space and fucking stick an ad in there.” That looks like their mantra.
And then there is this filth: when a player hits a six, it’s not just a six. It’s a “DLF maximum” or a “Yes Bank maximum”. If a player takes a catch, it’s a “Citi moment of success”.
Shut the fuck up, it’s just a catch or a six. I wonder what were they smoking when they came up with such an idea of putting ads anywhere they can find?
I would rather hear Ravi Shastri say, “That ball went like a tracer bullet…” than that filth.
I know the “DLF maximum”, the “Citi moment of success”, and all those terms are all very old and dated today, but that’s how long it has been since I’ve cared about spending any time watching a full IPL match.
But you get the point: advertising is meant to attract viewers like us, not distract us from the actual game. Yes, IPL runs on ads. But don’t let ads run the IPL.
2. IPL feels fixed (or rigged).
Talking about ads once again, these advertisers will only make good money if viewers like you and me stick to our TVs for the full 40 overs or however long a match lasts (if a match ends in fewer overs in some cases). So it’s in the interest of the IPL’s top management and these advertisers to artificially generate drama and make the match appear tighter to make us stick to our TV screens.
This is where fixing matches comes into play.
There’s a reason why a majority of IPL matches seem they’re very very close or tight. Granted, a good chunk of those matches naturally turn into nail-biters. It’s the nature of T20 cricket. But thanks to fixing games beforehand, the league can artificially generate drama and make the games closer, which means people will continue watching the match and the ads.
I don’t think IPL’s top management will ever consider fixing these issues because that will only go to act against their business goals.
But these are the two biggest problems I see with the IPL. Yes, there are some other problems too, like some players retiring from international cricket too early because they don’t seem “fit” enough to play, but they’re totally ready to play in the IPL. I think that’s okay. They can only make good money in the IPL and once they retire, they’ve to find another way to make money, or if they have some good investments they can continue living a decent life. So I’m definitely not against it.
And of course, there’s also the problem with our Indian media. IPL always becomes a big distraction every time it’s on and the actual issues in the country and the world don’t get talked about as much or don’t get enough screen time on TV. But that’s a different conversation altogether and not directly a fault of the IPL. That’s just how our media or any major media networks around the world work.
Anyway, here’s why the IPL is necessary.
Here’s why we need the IPL
1. You get to see great new, budding talent.
Players come, players go. There’s always stiff competition for any young player to get a spot in the Indian national team. And IPL is a great platform for them. Everybody’s eyes are on these young players. So many new, unknown players can get the recognition they deserve thanks to the IPL.
2. You love to see top players around the world playing together.
Although this is common in the NBA, the EPL, or La Liga, the concept of sports franchises is new in India. So, for us fans, it’s very exciting to see somebody like Virat Kohli play alongside Faf du Plessis or Glenn Maxwell. It bodes well for some great stories.
3. It’s great for our economy.
IPL is as impactful for our businesses as NFL’s Super Bowl is for American businesses. A lot of Indian companies get to promote themselves with those so many annoying ads. I just hope they’re less annoying. Those Zoo Zoo ads back in the day were legendary though.
IPL alone, in just 60 days mind you, which is the length of the tournament, contributed over 1400 crores to our GDP in 2022. The tournament boosts tourism and generates plenty of jobs. So, it’s great for our country’s economy.
4. IPL + T20 is the reason ODI and Test cricket still exist.
It’s very clear that ODI cricket is losing interest, which means less viewership, and less money there. And a legend like Wasim Akram even came out and said that the ICC should consider scrapping the 50-over ODI cricket format altogether. But he has a point. Even though Test Cricket is showing some signs of a resurgence with the World Test Championship, ODI cricket, other than for the World Cup, is dying.
The ICC won’t let ODI cricket die though. It’ll surely find creative ways to make ODI cricket great again, like how they’re doing with Test Cricket. But, the truth is T20 is the only form of cricket that will generate enough revenue for the ICC to allow these older formats like the ODIs and Tests to continue functioning because Test and ODI Cricket can’t do much on their own to become as appealing to the rest of the world as T20 cricket is right now.
Cricket needs IPL
To conclude, there’s no cricket league in the world that can match the IPL’s popularity: I mean having 1.5 billion people in one single country definitely helps, but we’ll take what we’re getting.
Anyway, I hope IPL looks into fixing those issues. And please ICC, don’t let ODI and Test cricket slowly die. But I don’t know…what’s the point in hoping for anything good these days?
