The Indian Premier League (IPL), a made-in-India and made-for-India event, has been moved to South Africa. M. S. Unnikrishnan analyses the impact of this move on the fortunes of the BCCI and the players involved

THE second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 Cricket Championship that has now moved to South Africa has disappointed legions of cricket fans in India. The only consolation for them is that at least the event is being held and has not been postponed or cancelled.

Though the cricket carnival has been shortened from 44 to 36 days, but the number of matches will remain at 59. The championship, originally slotted to be held from April 10 to May 24, will now begin from April 18 since South Africa needed time to get the logistics in place.

To hold the event in South Africa would be a big challenge, says IPL Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League.

The IPL is now deemed a big sport brand in South Asia, so it will continue to make money, though the profits may be less than the last year. India’s top corporate houses had invested in the event to rake in the moolah in the long run.

For Indian fans too, the loss is not much as they can enjoy live coverage of all matches, (4 p.m to 8 p.m.) Though watching the IPL on television is nothing as compared to soaking this instant cricket live.

The "home and away" concept during the inaugural edition, wherein each of the eight city-specific teams played seven of their matches on their home ground and the other seven away, had an instant connection with the fans, creating a huge support-base for the teams. And the host venues also made good money, as the franchisees spent Rs 3.5 crore for hiring the stadiums, with each match venue getting Rs 50 lakh.

This amount was in addition to the Rs 200 crore set aside by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from the IPL profits, to be distributed among its 25-member units.

The "home" feeling will be missed in South Africa, as the locals there will have little interest in rooting for teams not featuring South African players, though 16 matches have been scheduled in Durban, which has a sizeable Indian-origin population.

"We will certainly miss playing in front of our supporters. The ‘home and away’ was a good concept," remarked Sachin Tendulkar, captain of Mumbai Indians, while Yuvraj Singh, skipper of Kings XI Punjab, felt "sad that we will be playing away from India."

In fact, two of the teams — Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders — have no South African players in their lineup. Royal Challengers Bangalore have the maximum number of five South African players and coach Ray Jennings, while Chennai Super Kings have two, Mumbai Indians have two players and coach Shaun Pollock, Rajasthan Royals two, Delhi Daredevils one and Deccan Chargers three.

The raging national debate whether the Lok Sabha elections should have got precedence over the IPL due to security concerns proved that the IPL had crept into the consciousness of the people. It is not just a cricketing spectacle, which can be savoured in three hours, but a national obsession, riding on crores of rupees. It was like a family outing for many in the first edition, with fans of every conceivable age-group thronging the stadiums, while millions watched the action on television.

The heightened security concerns following terrorist strikes in Mumbai and on the Sri Lankan players in Lahore (Pakistan) had made the Central Government and a few state governments cagey. They feared that holding the IPL during election period may draw blood.

It might turn out to be just a perception, but the spectre of terrorist strikes could not have been ruled out. Hence the government’s no-no to the IPL till the Lok Sabha elections were over.

But the BCCI could not have waited that long for the government to say yes, as altering the IPL dates was impossible, due to a packed cricket calendar ahead. The third and final Test between India and New Zealand will end on April 7. Immediately thereafter, they will play in the IPL, followed by the T20 World Cup in England, a triangular series in Zimbabwe, a four-match series in West Indies and the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

At an emergency meeting of the BCCI working committee in Mumbai held last month it was decided that the show must go on, if not in India, then elsewhere. No wonder, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram made the caustic comment that "the IPL is a shrewd combination of sport and business".

South Africa was preferred for its the weather, the timing of the matches for the television audience in India, and the country’s experience of holding the first Twenty20 World Cup last year. The England and Wales Cricket Board, too, was interested, as it would be hosting the second T20 World Cup from June 15. But the rainy and cold weather there during April-May ruled out England as a venue for the IPL-II.

The BCCI and the IPL management were hard-strung as the committed dates for the second edition — from April 10 to May 24 — could not have been fiddled with much due to the contractual agreements with the players, sponsors and television broadcasters.

"Not having the IPL in India is unfortunate. It is also impossible to shift the IPL dates. I am happy that the BCCI has taken the decision to continue with the IPL outside India. But the IPL will always remain the Indian Premier League," said Vijay Mallya, owner of the high-profile Bangalore Royal Challengers. Kolkata Kinght Riders owner and filmstar Shah Rukh Khan was also happy that the event was happening: "The excitement of fans as it happens in India, may not be there. But it’s a great decision. We will follow what the IPL and the BCCI have decided."

Thousands of crores of rupees are at stake. The eight IPL franchisees have sunk over Rs 3200 crore for a three-year deal. They had expected to consolidate their gains in the second year as huge sums have been invested to rope in foreign players. England stars Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen broke the IPL record this year for the highest-paid players after they were sold for $1.55 million each in the players’ auction for the second season.

Allrounder Flintoff was purchased by Chennai Super Kings, while former England captain Pietersen was netted by Royal Challengers. Royal Challengers, who had finished a miserable seventh during season-1, were keen to strengthen their line-up of foreign players, and hence Mallya loosened his purse strings liberally to get Pietersen on board while Chennai Super Kings are determined to give a shot at the title this time, after finishing third in season-I.

Even some of the Indian star players are being paid mind-boggling sums, which the franchisees would find it difficult to recover even in a three-year span. Indian captain M. S. Dhoni held the previous record at $ 1.5 million that Super Kings paid for him last year. South Africa’s rising star Jean Paul Duminy was purchased by Mumbai Indians for $95,000, while Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait was bought by defending champions Rajasthan Royals for $375,000 to replace Sohail Tanvir of Pakistan, who had emerged as the highest-wicket-taker last year.

So cancelling the IPL would have added a few more zeroes to the losses of the franchisees.

But the IPL is such a cash cow that despite holding it in South Africa at an enormous cost, the event will still generate profit for the BCCI. It will be a boon for the South African cricket board as well, as it would be earning quite a tidy profit. But the franchisees fear that they may incur huge losses with "local flavour" missing. Not many franchisees made profits in the inaugural year. Hence they were hoping to break even this year.

Though the IPL management will defray the travel and hotel expenses of the eight teams and officials, the franchisees will suffer losses as the gate collections may be low, which in any case would not come in their pockets this time.

Some of the Indian players, who would have otherwise got a chance to feature in home matches, will not make it to the teams as the franchisees cannot afford to carry jumbo squads to South Africa. The IPL-I was brimming with first class and club players from India, and many of them, who would have otherwise remained fringe players, hit the national spotlight only because they had featured in season-I of the IPL.

A grand total of 268 players have been enrolled for the IPL-II. With the playing squads of each of the franchises ranging from 24 to 56 players, there are a total of 188 Indians participating in the IPL this time. Players like Manpreet Singh Ghoni, Amit Mishra, Yusuf Pathan, Joginder Sharma, Yo Mahesh, Shikhar Dhawan, Abhishek Nayar, Swapnil Asnodkar, Ashoke Dinda, Ravindra Jadeja etc came under the national spotlight only because of the IPL.

That the IPL has such a sweeping impact among the Indian fans is evident from the Rs 8200 crore, nine-year television deal struck by the BCCI with the Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony entertainment) and World Sports Group, after cancelling the earlier deal of Rs 4700-crore with Sony. The second edition is expected to earn upward of Rs 700 crore. Even if the expected loss of Rs 200 crore is underwritten, the IPL management will still make a profit of Rs 500 crore, or thereabout.

The government will, however, suffer huge revenue loss due to the shifting of the IPL. It had earned Rs 90 crore in taxes last year.

The team composition is also beset with problems this year. Coach of the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders John Buchanan has indicated that he would have four rotating captains, instead of just one Sourav Ganguly. The other players he has in mind are Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge. Although the final decision would be taken in S. Africa.

Royal Challengers have replaced Rahul Dravid with Kevin Pietersen while Deccan Chargers have stripped VVS Laxman of captaincy, to put Adam Gilchrist on the job.

The IPL concept of having classy foreign players has hugely benefited the budding Indian players as it has been a dream come true for many of them to play alongside world class stars like Shane Warne, Jacques Kallis, Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brett Lee, Adam Gilchrist etc.

Though the idea of the IPL emerged from the Indian Cricket League (ICL) floated by Kapil Dev, the latter seems to have closed shop, after failing to get the approval of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The relentless stonewalling by the BCCI had led to the ICL fiasco. The ICC had banned the ICL players from playing for their respective countries. Now ICL’s foreign recruits are willing to say sorry, in a bid to don their national colours, as Kapil’s devils have not been able to profitably sustain the ICL.

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