Indian Cricket League(ICL) what's brewing?

ICL is hitting the headlines quite regularly these days. What makes BCCI afraid of ICL? Is it a good thing for cricket lovers?

Lets see...

Cricket is real big in India. Currently, BBCI is a almost like a proprietary organization, which controls the game in India, at almost all levels played professionally. With the kind of finances it is generating, it may very well be controlling most of the International cricket. To a certain extent, BCCI seems to get a lot of say at least in scheduling games with the nations it thinks will generate enough interest and in turn money.

Unfortunately, BCCI does not seem to do a few things right, despite having more than adequate resources at it's disposal. First and foremost, they can't seem to get a consistent playing team. They definitely could have handled the coach selection thing in a much better way. In spite of all these short comings, there never seemed to be a general lack of interest in the game from common public. Sure, there were a few mood swings, swearing ins and stay away from the game promises by the fans when India had a shocking world cup tournament. But this is always going to be a short term thing, and hopefully If India does well in England and wrap the series, most of them should be back checking scores, reading articles on how their favorite players fared, how they wished their favorite player could have played better and a lot of useless statistics.

Unfortunately, people don't seem to have a back up option to fall back upon, when they want to get away from this game. We seem to like something, when we understand it. People know the game far too well to stay away from it. When we watch cricket, we almost can't help but think which bowler should be brought on next, who should be fielding at what position, when a wicket falls which batsman should come in next depending on whether we need quick runs or otherwise. We speculate! And that's quite involving and can be quite gratifying when you get it right. Secondly, I think we've always been looking for a world beating team desperately. because we have never done it and this seem to be the only avenue where our national team does reasonably well at the international level. I may not be wrong if I say that we've always been looking for heroes, larger than life personalities in our players. That's why we see packed stadias when India plays any other country, and not so much when other competitive teams are playing. And I think this may be a source for such strong emotions, when they fail to deliver. ( there may be room for other sports to prosper, provided they are supported and marketed aggressively, as it may not be the cricket that we love so much, but our team to be a world beating one) So there's never been a lack of interest from the common public. Unfortunately, since there's no competition to BBCI or an alternative sport that captures the imagination of people, BBCI could afford a not so professional approach to the management of cricket.


Looks like I have digressed quite a bit, coming back on to the topic at hand, ICL seems to offer competition to BCCI. ICL is backed by one of the biggest business(media) houses in the country, and it is quite apparent that they are willing to spend some good money. They seem to be targeting the 20-20 version, and want to sign on some big names so they can attract crowds. If they get their act together right, this may be a good thing for the cricket in general, as it gives a lot of young cricketers to play alongside some of the big names in the game and learn a few tricks in the process. Obviously, if this gets popular that is a direct hit to revenues of BCCI in a negative way. Things are inertial in nature, BCCI does not want to get out of their comfort zones just yet, hence they are wielding their power to create as many obstacles as possible to slow down the momentum.

IMHO, ICL does seem to offer some promise. We just have to wait a bit longer to see what's in store. Let's just hope that ICL makes the game more competitive and interesting.


Parting shot.........
Today, I've read this comment
"Murali will complete 1000 Test wickets but they would count as mere run-outs in my eyes."
Bishan Bedi doesn't seem to tire of baiting Muttiah Muralitharan

It did not really go very well with me. I mean, if Bishen Bedi has any problems with Murali's bowling action, he should question the ICC procedures that have cleared him of chucking. Or if he feels the procedure is wrong, and he has some suggestions to improve the processes -- he should just propose them. IMHO that was quite disgusting to insult somebody like that.