Yet another lottery result announced on the 18th. India and the cricketing world welcomed new millionaires to the ever-growing list. Every time there is an IPL auction, it seems like we are all playing the game of monopoly and everyone is bidding away to glory as if the world is coming to an end and this is the last time, we will spend the money and boy these teams splurge the money on the players.
IPL was a brainchild of Lalit Modi who didn’t graduate from the US but saw enough of the sports in US. He envisioned league cricket as no one else and what followed has been an annual extravaganza that has cricket competing with Bollywood for the eyeballs and more so, for the access to people’s wallets. Entertainment offered by IPL has been of the highest caliber and hence even the auction is followed like none other.
Reputation is the key and the logic at times get tossed off the window. Reputation of the player that is; Some of the bidding makes you wonder that you are watching Scam 1992 one of the most popular web series unfold. The fundamentals of the stock don’t matter, rumors and ability of the broker supporting it does. You can take anyone for a spin and throw the millions to them, no real expectations to perform. As an added bonus, if you perform once in a while you will live another day and another day and so on.
Case in point. Take two of the biggest horses that were in the bourse and ran the course. These guys Chris Morris and Glenn Maxwell have been around the IPL since last few years and by no means, they are slouches when it comes to performance but the amount of money which was thrown at them makes you wonder if the sanity is still left in bidding. Their past performance most notably the past year should have fetched them a quarter of their current pay packet. One of the major Bollywood houses need to take Maxwell and make him a star of the movie swindler’s list. He played the IPL in UAE as if he was suffering from his mental health and once the T20 series with India started, he was back to being the iconic Maxwell who people have been inkling to see. Performance isn’t a required part of the objectives and players can get away. There are no incentive bonuses as the US sports have.
Chris Morris on the other hand just crowned himself the richest paid player in the 14-year-old history of IPL. One might wonder what’s wrong with him being paid. Nothing absolutely unless you see that he is the highest paid player of the biggest T20 carnival in the world when he is not even a regular for the Rainbow team (SA) in T20Is. If someone is deemed so worthy, would you not expect him to be amongst the best eleven players of your country. What is more stunning is the team that bid on him to make him the richest ever has been miles ahead of others in holding on to their money and be spendthrift. This bonanza wasn’t expected from them especially when they have some similar role players in their armory.
No need to begrudge those two or number of other millionaires (crorepatis) most of them from India who had convinced their parents to have them play the game with an intent of making a career out of it and most Indian parents had reluctantly agreed. Would like to wish them well with hope thar we get to see some good contests and even better pyrotechnics. IPL has helped develop an ecosystem in the last fourteen years when the growing up kids and parents are actually stopping in their strides to consider an IPL stint as a serious career move. As this ecosystem builds out, it will give birth to that many more coaches and their armies, sports good manufacturers, sports managers, commentators, writers (not everyone writes for free like me).
Wait, the best is yet to come. If you are a parent or a cricket hopeful, micro leagues have proliferated across the world and 2022 is waiting for the mothership to hop onto the bandwagon. By Mothership, I mean the mother of all large corporations, matriarch of sports marketing, United States. With the growing population of cash rich immigrants, the United States has decided to embrace the sport and for the first time, a sport where they do not belong or master at. So far, every popular sport in America has an American at least as it’s poster child. Cricket will be the first time an American will not start off being the top jersey seller. Signs of a true business-oriented nation, which puts the opportunity above emotion. Expect the Major League Cricket in US to offer a real stiff competition to the IPL (only if BCCI allows the Indian players to participate). If the Indian players are not allowed, then IPL will still be the best in business.
Cricket is waiting for its next revolution and the economy is getting ready to swell further. So, fasten your seatbelts and get ready to enjoy this joyride.
