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At the half-way mark, the World Series Hockey (WSH) League has not created ripples that the Indian Premier League Twenty20 (IPL) had generated when it was launched five years ago, and then sustained in the subsequent editions. Blame it on the timing of the matches (7 pm and 9 pm) or the lack of big Indian star names among the players, the WSH is yet to pick up momentum, though the concept is good, and may emerge as a trend-setter in the long run. Hockey India has picked the best 48 players for the national camp in preparation for the Olympics. These players have been banned from playing in the WSH, despite many of them signing for the league. This has robbed the WSH of much sheen. The matches are thrilling, and the format is viewer-friendly, yet spectators are certainly not trooping in. Hockey may be touted as the national game of India, but cricket is the virtual national game. The fifth edition of the IPL, starting on April 4, is getting more mileage than the ambitious WSH. This is because we, as a country, are obsessed with cricket, despite the fact that India gave a mesmerising performance in the Olympic Hockey Qualifiers and booked a berth for the London Olympics. How many can really remember the exploits of Sher-e-Punjab in the WSH to top the group with 22 points after 10 matches? And nobody seems to care about the plight of Delhi Wizards, led by former India captain Rajpal Singh, who, along with Arjun Halappa, mustered courage to defy Hockey India to play in the WSH. How many people can recall the names of the eight franchise-owned teams in the WSH (Sher-E-Punjab, Delhi Wizards, Mumbai Marines, Karnataka Lions, Pune Strykers, Chennai Cheetahs, Bhopal Badshahs and Chandigarh Comets), while there will be no hiccups while reeling out the names of the IPL franchisees. The WSH started on February 29 across eight venues in the country and will end on April 2. Barring some of the matches in centres like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Bhopal, which have witnessed impressive turnouts, Delhi and Jalandhar, considered to be the hub of hockey, have been real letdowns. This, despite the fact that the WSH has invested around Rs 30 crore in marketing the league, out of a total budget of Rs 125-150 crore, besides each team putting in between Rs 8 and Rs 10 crore. The footfalls in the WSH are nowhere near the attendance for the IPL matches. The hockey league is, however, confident of consolidating its gains from the third edition, as the effort now is to build a strong brand, and to peg it close to the IPL, in the subsequent editions. May be the hockey stadiums are small, in comparison to the huge cricket stadiums, but still there is no frenzy to buy tickets for the WSH. For IPL, though, people are willing to shell out a fortune to watch a match. The 10 IPL franchisees reportedly earned revenues between Rs 900 crore and Rs 1000 crore in the fourth edition. With all the top players of India and other countries playing in it, the IPL will continue to rake in the moolah, come April, in the fifth edition as well. No wonder, Sahara India pooled in over Rs 1400 crore to own Pune Warriors, as they know that an IPL team is a cash cow, with sponsors and spectators queuing up to make it a smashing success. Hope, the WSH will gain in strength in the coming editions, if it can manage to remain afloat around for that long, that is.
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