The man behind the success of IPL is Subhash Chandra. No, it’s not a typo. I indeed mean the IPL or the BCCI backed Indian Premier League. By now you might be wondering whether I am in my senses when I made this statement; but believe me there is a rational mind resting over my shoulders.
Had I said the zee group patriarch was the reason for the failure of IPL; few of you might even have subscribed to my views, now that execution of the entire ICL clubbed together with the exciting and the close-finish matches played had seriously given IPL run for its money. But it is bound to get some raised eye-brows when I name the man-of-the-match of IPL as the Mr. Chandra, whose brain-child is the ICL. And when I name him so, I have reasons to believe that. For me, IPL would not have existed; had not Mr. Chandra conceptualized and successfully executed the so-called rebel league or the ICL.
He must have done it for reasons other than mere upliftment of cricket in the nook and corner of the vast expanse of our motherland as been projected to us; he must have had his vested economic interests in the success of the ICL, but it goes without saying that the true beneficiaries of it have been the virtually unknown or at best not-so-known cricketer who has been slogging day-in and day-out at the Ranji circuit hoping for the India blue-cap which most of the time eludes them. It’s an open secret that denial of lucrative broadcasting rights by BCCI (on technical grounds even when Zee group bided the highest) forced the Zee group to start its own league. They might have started it to cash-in on the enormous moolah that Cricket broadcastings in India comes with but nevertheless the sundry domestic cricketers as well international players in their twilight years are also going to gain from it. Be it Paul Harris of New-Zealand who retired from International Cricket or be in Swapnil Asnodkar (a talented Ranji player from Goa who quiet didn’t make it to the national scene), its just a win-win situation for all regardless to which league they belong to.
Even as, on face-value the IPL seems too be more glamorous with celebrity from different fields owning the teams and the players been virtually sold to them for exorbitant prices; ICL does deserve the credit for it dared to swim in the uncharted waters. They entered the arena where in they didn’t even had the slightest clue of what was there in the offing for them; and needless to say they came up trumps. Not just they conceptualized, organized and executed the tournament to perfection but even scared the richest cricket body in the world to get defensive or at best counter-offensive mode. The very fact that BCCI denied ICL any access to ground and stadium facilities affiliated to them not just showcases how threatened they were feeling; how also exposes their commitment towards development of cricket in India.
As ICL bandwagon kicked and started rolling steadily, sponsors started pouring in huge sums of money considering the value for money their getting in addition to the air time. The economic behemoth that BCCI is, saw this as yet another money-spinning business and jumped to grab yet another chance to fill in their already overflowing coffers. What else does explain the sudden change of mind of the BCCI office-bearers to start a league with T20 matches, when they were very much reluctant to imbibe the 20-20 format in the domestic calendar and even were reluctant to send a full fledged national team for the world T20 world cup? Even the formidable Mr. Lalit Modi, who lately has bestowed himself with the title “Commissioner of IPL” was so much influenced by the ICL that he mistakenly welcomed the guests at the launch of IPL by saying “Welcome to the ‘Indian Cricket League’”.
Such is dynamism of this man, who when denied a rightful place; went on to create his own powerhouse. Indeed, a true man of the match…
Had I said the zee group patriarch was the reason for the failure of IPL; few of you might even have subscribed to my views, now that execution of the entire ICL clubbed together with the exciting and the close-finish matches played had seriously given IPL run for its money. But it is bound to get some raised eye-brows when I name the man-of-the-match of IPL as the Mr. Chandra, whose brain-child is the ICL. And when I name him so, I have reasons to believe that. For me, IPL would not have existed; had not Mr. Chandra conceptualized and successfully executed the so-called rebel league or the ICL.
He must have done it for reasons other than mere upliftment of cricket in the nook and corner of the vast expanse of our motherland as been projected to us; he must have had his vested economic interests in the success of the ICL, but it goes without saying that the true beneficiaries of it have been the virtually unknown or at best not-so-known cricketer who has been slogging day-in and day-out at the Ranji circuit hoping for the India blue-cap which most of the time eludes them. It’s an open secret that denial of lucrative broadcasting rights by BCCI (on technical grounds even when Zee group bided the highest) forced the Zee group to start its own league. They might have started it to cash-in on the enormous moolah that Cricket broadcastings in India comes with but nevertheless the sundry domestic cricketers as well international players in their twilight years are also going to gain from it. Be it Paul Harris of New-Zealand who retired from International Cricket or be in Swapnil Asnodkar (a talented Ranji player from Goa who quiet didn’t make it to the national scene), its just a win-win situation for all regardless to which league they belong to.
Even as, on face-value the IPL seems too be more glamorous with celebrity from different fields owning the teams and the players been virtually sold to them for exorbitant prices; ICL does deserve the credit for it dared to swim in the uncharted waters. They entered the arena where in they didn’t even had the slightest clue of what was there in the offing for them; and needless to say they came up trumps. Not just they conceptualized, organized and executed the tournament to perfection but even scared the richest cricket body in the world to get defensive or at best counter-offensive mode. The very fact that BCCI denied ICL any access to ground and stadium facilities affiliated to them not just showcases how threatened they were feeling; how also exposes their commitment towards development of cricket in India.
As ICL bandwagon kicked and started rolling steadily, sponsors started pouring in huge sums of money considering the value for money their getting in addition to the air time. The economic behemoth that BCCI is, saw this as yet another money-spinning business and jumped to grab yet another chance to fill in their already overflowing coffers. What else does explain the sudden change of mind of the BCCI office-bearers to start a league with T20 matches, when they were very much reluctant to imbibe the 20-20 format in the domestic calendar and even were reluctant to send a full fledged national team for the world T20 world cup? Even the formidable Mr. Lalit Modi, who lately has bestowed himself with the title “Commissioner of IPL” was so much influenced by the ICL that he mistakenly welcomed the guests at the launch of IPL by saying “Welcome to the ‘Indian Cricket League’”.
Such is dynamism of this man, who when denied a rightful place; went on to create his own powerhouse. Indeed, a true man of the match…
