Beyond boundaries

IPL is featuring the best at their best, writes Sridhar K Chari

SO what was that people were asking? Without the national flag to play for, will players, and their fans, lack the intensity, the passion, and the commitment to make a sporting tournament a success on and off the field?

The answer was clear from the opening match at Bangalore, when the Australian Test, One-Day, and Twenty20 captain, Ricky Ponting, ran all the way from gully to hug bowler Ishant Sharma, after he took a wicket. Both were playing for the Kolkata Knightriders, and the lanky bowler had castled Rahul Dravid, captain and opening batsman of the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Unlike the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which fielded second-rung players, the IPL is featuring the best in the world. (Of course, BCCI owes a debt to ICL—it was their idea they hijacked). Just the cast is enough to capture the cricketing imagination.

There is Ricky Ponting, one of the best batsmen in the world (though woefully out of form in the IPL) and star captain of the best cricket team in the world, Australia, playing under the feisty Sourav Ganguly for the Knightriders. Apart from cheering on bowlers, he is not averse to tips against national team-mates like Andrew Symonds. There is South African Captain Graeme Smith, who flies in at 4.30 am a little late into the tournament, after national duty for his country, and immediately plays in a match for the Shane Warne-led Rajasthan Royals, helping them to another win.

There is Shane Warne himself, the sole foreign captain in the league, leading a bunch of inexperienced players to popular underdog wins. One of his techniques is to have a theme for every game – "play with intensity", for example.

That is at the heart of the BCCI’s coup and the success of IPL. India is now at the centre of the cricketing world. The world’s best are here, drawn by big money, of course, but induced to play for professional pride and team camaraderie under the powerful glare of the spotlight that the league has turned on these players, after putting them on the biggest stage ever. "The whole world is watching," said Adam Gilchrist, a little awe in his voice, after smashing a fast hundred against the Mumbai Indians. Brendon Macullum, the New Zealand smasher, set the tone, with a thunderous 73-ball 158 not out, raining sixes and fours down at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium. He has already justified his US $700,000 headprice. Incidentally, the costliest foreign player, Andrew Symonds of Australia ($1.35 million dollars for the Deccan Chargers) has done well with the bat, but his bowling has been among the worst. He got thumped for 30 runs (4,6,4,6,4,6) in one over by Virendra Sehwag of the Delhi Daredevils while Shane Warne smashed his way through a Symonds over to win a last-over thriller.

Foreign player, Indian player, young player, old player, they are gelling together, and they are giving it their all. If you were still not convinced after all these happenings, you only had to watch Brett Lee open the bowling for the Punjab Kings IX, desperately looking for their first win, in their match against the Mumbai Indians, the most expensive franchisee of the IPL at over $100 million. Mumbai hadn’t won anything either.

The speed he steadily built up in the opening over, quickly approaching the 150-km mark, the intensity, the sheer venom in the bowling, was astonishing. One wondered whether he had bowled like that for Australia ever, so pumped up was he. He took a wicket and next charged down the track to run out Luke Ronchi, and the Punjab IX were well on their way to their first win. And the fans? Well, TV viewerships are high, and not just in India, and many venues are sell-outs. It has attracted tremendous attention around the world, and even the UK betting syndicates want in.

There are many factors for the BCCI and the team owners to consider to make a sustained commercial and cricketing success of the league. There is no doubt that they have truly captured the cricketing world’s imagination. Things will never quite be the same again.

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