The IPL has been churning out big numbers year after year and their valuations have multiplied like no other asset in the Globe in the last 3 years. All credit goes to LM the Lucky Master - Lalit Modi. It is difficult to determine what contributed to this phenomenal success. Some might argue that ICL gave birth to IPL. But one cannot ignore the way Lalit Modi packaged IPL and commercialized it.
The biggest challenge now is to deliver the same results from here on. Modi is slightly pompous about his ability to deliver such returns every year. Success has many fathers. If it was the format that brought the success, ICL would have succeeded too. It would be fair to say that the Star Power is a crucial contributor to the success. And this is where the challenge lies.
The Stars are the major Crowd-Pullers (CP). Players like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Symonds, Gilchrist, Hayden, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Pietersen, Gayle and Warne are the best of the lot in this category. The rest of them, though good to watch are not major CPs barring a few like Dilshan, Uthappa and Yosuf Pathan. Unfortunately, the bulk of the CPs are in the wrong side of 30s. How long will they continue to play is a big question? It won’t be long before we see some of them taking up roles of a Coach or Mentor for their respective Franchisee.
With two more teams entering the fray, it would be interesting to see the Star-power they would get to have. Only a handful of Non-IPL CPs are available in world cricket. If the Pakistanis are allowed to play in the next IPL, we might have a few CPs from our neighbour.
To expect the Senior Stars to continue playing in IPL for long, would only be a dream. The format of the game and the tournament is so cruel that few failures on the trot will force a Star to be dropped. The great players like Fleming, McGrath and Martyn had a bad exit from competitive cricket, thanks to IPL. This would surely be working in the minds of the Senior IPL Stars. Ganguly had a great exit from the International Cricket, he would want to time his IPL exit in similar fashion. The same is the case with Kumble, Hayden and Gilchrist. Though Tendulkar might continue playing IPL for a few seasons, Dravid and Laxman might have to consider quitting IPL by end of this season to save their reputation and to focus on Test Cricket.
It would not be surprising if the whole lot of Senior IPL Stars start announcing their retirement from IPL very soon. These servants of the game deserve a more gracious exit from competitive cricket.
Half-way through the third edition of the IPL, the venture has not produced enough CPs. The Branding income will take a beating if IPL does not have enough CPs. One look at the non-IPL players across the cricketing world, will reveal the bench strength of CPs. It is not just the IPL that needs CPs, the game of cricket on the whole needs more CPs.
The IPL honeymoon might come to an end soon. The hype and the euphoria has taken the IPL to newer heights. The journey from here on is not going to be easy for IPL unless the world cricket generates crowd-pullers and stars.
The biggest challenge now is to deliver the same results from here on. Modi is slightly pompous about his ability to deliver such returns every year. Success has many fathers. If it was the format that brought the success, ICL would have succeeded too. It would be fair to say that the Star Power is a crucial contributor to the success. And this is where the challenge lies.
The Stars are the major Crowd-Pullers (CP). Players like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Symonds, Gilchrist, Hayden, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Pietersen, Gayle and Warne are the best of the lot in this category. The rest of them, though good to watch are not major CPs barring a few like Dilshan, Uthappa and Yosuf Pathan. Unfortunately, the bulk of the CPs are in the wrong side of 30s. How long will they continue to play is a big question? It won’t be long before we see some of them taking up roles of a Coach or Mentor for their respective Franchisee.
With two more teams entering the fray, it would be interesting to see the Star-power they would get to have. Only a handful of Non-IPL CPs are available in world cricket. If the Pakistanis are allowed to play in the next IPL, we might have a few CPs from our neighbour.
To expect the Senior Stars to continue playing in IPL for long, would only be a dream. The format of the game and the tournament is so cruel that few failures on the trot will force a Star to be dropped. The great players like Fleming, McGrath and Martyn had a bad exit from competitive cricket, thanks to IPL. This would surely be working in the minds of the Senior IPL Stars. Ganguly had a great exit from the International Cricket, he would want to time his IPL exit in similar fashion. The same is the case with Kumble, Hayden and Gilchrist. Though Tendulkar might continue playing IPL for a few seasons, Dravid and Laxman might have to consider quitting IPL by end of this season to save their reputation and to focus on Test Cricket.
It would not be surprising if the whole lot of Senior IPL Stars start announcing their retirement from IPL very soon. These servants of the game deserve a more gracious exit from competitive cricket.
Half-way through the third edition of the IPL, the venture has not produced enough CPs. The Branding income will take a beating if IPL does not have enough CPs. One look at the non-IPL players across the cricketing world, will reveal the bench strength of CPs. It is not just the IPL that needs CPs, the game of cricket on the whole needs more CPs.
The IPL honeymoon might come to an end soon. The hype and the euphoria has taken the IPL to newer heights. The journey from here on is not going to be easy for IPL unless the world cricket generates crowd-pullers and stars.
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What abt the annoying ad's all the time between overs and that horrible MRF blimp.
ReplyDeleteMachi - Where do you get the time to blog on just about everything?
ReplyDelete