Today, the cricketers will undergo the auction hammer and will become commodities. A sad day for cricket indeed. The IPL is nothing but a money making tamasha in the guise of promoting cricket and young talent. The intention of IPL should have been to promote Cricket to improve its standard and produce world class cricketers and not to corporatise it by degenerating into a money making enterprise using burnt out cricketers under the control of greedy politicians, filmstars, and corporates. Celebrities like Sharukh Khan, Vijay Mallya, etc are not interested in popularizing cricket but only in making money. BCCI is doing the greatest disservice to cricket by commercializing this glorious and revered sport and cricketers by exploiting the national sentiments for their own selfish financial gain at the expense of professionalism and ethics. This is disastrous for the sport and sportsmen who have now become commodities in a global market offering themselves for sale to the highest bidder. This is a most disgraceful and more shameful act than flesh trade and needs to be condemned by all cricket lovers. IPL is spoiling cricketers by announcing crores of rupees as match fees for the worn out Cricketers, to show to the world their money power. Instead of wasting the money on the undeserving and worn-out Cricketers, the authorities should improve stadium facilities and the domestic cricket.

It is said that IPL teams will not be able to break even from the first year. But will the franchisees break even considering that the success of IPL depends on certain facts. Let’s examine them. We should remember that we Indians are crazy about cricket and we eat, drink and sleep cricket only when our cricketers play for India. The way we cheered Yuvraj’s 6 sixes, the way we danced after beating SA, England & Australia, the way we screamed and danced when Shreesanth took Misbah’s catch, it was just unparalleled. We distributed sweets after our T20 World Cup Victory. Will we do the same thing when Delhi Dynamos beat the Smashing Mumbaikars in IPL final? Naah! If there is an International Cricket match there is a long queue 24 hrs before opening the ticket counter. Can we experience the same scenario during a T20 match between Bangalore and Kolkata. Of course because of hype and celebrities involved there might be some interest in the beginning but the excitement will wane away pretty soon. We are not real cricket fans but just fans of International Cricket. The passion with which our cricketers play for the country will be not be the same while playing in IPL. Will the same passion be there while watching if the Indian and Australian cricketers are playing in the same team? Moreover, cricket is an excellent marketing opportunity because 'Team India' is a franchisee that has always had and always will have a following despite ups and downs in its performance irrespective of who markets it. The fans have celebrated wins and cursed players, they have idolised Tendulkar one day and booed him the next day. The feelings are always extreme and there's never any detachment. This is what defines irrational, extreme emotions of fans, but unwavering loyalty. Therefore it makes sense to strengthen the only franchise that exists in Indian cricket – INDIA - rather than creating artificial ones. This is not jingoism, but simple marketing commonsense which the IPL, BCCI and ICL should well realize. They should surrender to the truth that branded franchises can’t even match the following and passion associated with India- Pakistan match or and India – Australia match. At the end of the day, it is national performance that matters not how Smashing Mumbai or Delhi Dynamos do.

It is funny that the BCCI thinks that Dravid, Ganguly, Kumble are not good enough to play T20 and ODIs but the same entity signs them for IPL for playing in a T20 tournament!

And the talk of unearthing young talent in the IPL tournament is total hogwash. Where is the scope for a youngster to show his talent in a T20 match when all he has to do is slog it out? There are 8 teams which include around 100 players. Around 40% are from International teams and rest will be from domestic teams so where is the question of unearthing fresh talent. And for IPL to succeed they need star players (current or just retired) otherwise might be a dead show.

Lalit Modi is trying to build IPL on the lines of English Premier League. But just like EPL has not been able to make the England team succeed at International level the same will be true for our cricket team also. The Indian cricket team and the English football team have often been described as chokers on the big stage lacking mental toughness. Indian cricketers and English footballers are often considered over-paid, and lacking the willingness to fight for each other. Are the sports being ruined by too much popularity, hype and money?

That money rules over cricket can also proven through recent incidents. Kirsten had condemned India in his diary from the 1996 tour but today he has been appointed as India’s coach and he will travel the length and breadth of this country that he claimed had more cows than cars on its streets! Money has a strange way of changing people’s mind. Isn’t it? Tim May, who heads the Federation of International Cricket Players, had cried hoarse that professional cricketers might turn to performance-enhancing drugs to survive the grueling international calendar. But the same Tim May was the middle man between Australia’s top cricketers and Cricket Australia which was putting hurdles in the Australian players signing IPL? The Australian cricketers have always given more importance to their Baggy Green caps and have dreamt of donning that cap one day. Today that dream is being replaced by one of calculating how much money they can earn playing T20 cricket in the shortest possible span of time. Therefore the truth is that IPL is all about money and not about cricket.

There is nothing wrong in making money because the more the money the more it will make cricket more popular but let’s not make cricket an entertainment and money making machine. IPL is by the rich (BCCI), from the rich (Franchisees) and for the rich (Cricketers, Consumer companies, TV Channels ). BCCI and Franchisees will earn from TV Rights and advertisements. Cricketers, TV Channels will earn from playing and endorsements. Consumer companies will flood TV channels and newspapers with plethora of ads to push their sub-standard and overpriced products to the public. The only loser will be the public who would lose its money in entertainment. So, it is going to be a huge 'Loot' in India. Yes, one understands that cricket has to be run as a business but the core of the sport has to be strengthened and nourished. It has to be built around cricket, and not entertainment.

AMJAD K. MARUF