Sub tribal loyalties to the fore

NAKED EYE

Glamour teams and star value

There is a new type of caste system at work. It is being surreptiouslyand ingeniously used by discerning television viewers. You know thecouch potatoes who are watching cricket these days. IPL cricketendlessly. So, if you thought that there was this headlong rush towatch the IPL games, think again. IPL cricket watchers are extremelydiscerning. In the ratings brouhaha, we miss the minutae of empiricalevidence which clearly points to the prevalance of a caste system.Simply put, big game hunting is on. Cricket loving savants who areviewers watch their favourite sides more than the others. And byfavourite teams, I am going deeper than mere sub tribal loyalties andspecifically narrowing it down to teams which have the big players orshow boys. Hence, it could be Sachin Tendulkar aka Mumbai Indians orapna Viru or Virender Sehwag, read Delhi Daredevils. How do I knowthis? Let us look at the facts. By virtue of this fact, the bestratings are in the cities that they represent.
The glamour teams and glamour players are the ones driving eyeballs.On March 17, during the MI vs Daredevils game, Mumbai had a TRP of10.79 as Mumbaikars tuned into the see their favourite son. The gameincidentally was played in Delhi. Delhi TRP was 6.83, but Bangalorewas surprisingly better with 6.91. On March 22, the KKR vs MI game inMumbai once again saw record viewership with 10.65 in Mumbai and 10.54in Kolkata. Proving that when two high profile teams clash, theinterest levels are at fever pitch in the two cities that the teamshail from. But in the first fortnight the best ratings were for thegame between Chennai Super Kings and Knight Riders again in Kolkata onMarch 16 at 10.91.
On March 25, when CSK played MI in Mumbai, the ratings in the citywere in the stratosphere - 10.62. Again two star sides capable ofplaying slam bam variety to perfection at work. But even moreimportantly, I guess it is the presence of the master - SachinTendulkar - which is bringing in the eyeballs in many of Mumbai'sgames. As Tendya runs the last lap of a glittering career, the hoipolloi doesn't want to miss any opportunity to watch him bat.Realising that this may well be the last year or so of internationalcricket that the little big fella plays, more people than ever aretuning in. Somewhere the 200 that Sachin smashed against South Africarecently is also acting as a catalyst, for the master has attained adifferent and new level of competence after that knock.
Big teams with big stars are the overriding theme this time in IPL.With the tournament returning to India, viewer and advertiser interestseems to have peaked. CSK vs Royal Challengers on March 23 has asimilar tale. The ratings were 10.41 in the Garden City for a gameplayed in Bangalore. What this also confirms is that the glamour sideswith glamour icons are the ones being backed in this tournament. Andthe ratings drop off the radar in cities which are not playing. Takethe Daredevils joust with Royal Challengers in Bangalore on March 25,ratings in Mumbai 3.33, Kolkata a pathetic 1.99, 2.56 in Chennai, 2.35in Hyderabad, 2.29 in Rajasthan and 2.26 in Punjab, Haryana,Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh, the catchment area for Kings XiPunjab. Strangely my own hypothesis takes a beating here because Delhiat 3.52 and Bangalore at 4.74 didn't exactly set the two cities onfire. However, as a rule this thumb rule works. Take Rajasthan Royalsvs Royal Challengers in Bangalore where the TRP in Bangalore was 8.01and 5.10 in Rajasthan on March 18. The city based franchise modelclearly benefits the cities in terms of TRPs. The very first gamebetween Deccan Chargers and KKR in Navi Mumbai saw the ratings at 9.30in Kolkata and 8.25 in Hyderabad, but since it was also the very firstgame of the tourney, the ratings were 7.38 in Mumbai where the gamewas being played.
Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers, Delhi Daredevils are alsodominating the betting meter. The overheated satta market at home andthe online betting bazaar in the UK are favouring this troika ofteams. To win market, Mumbai Indians is placed at 109/50, Daredevils3, RCB 7/2 and late arrivals CSK 7. The odds on making the final areMI 3/5, DD 22/23, RCB 22/23 followed by CSK and increasingly KKR. Aswe go into the business end of this tourney, and as more lusty hittingtakes place, the odds will change. After all, who knew that astrokeless wonder Murali Vijay will provide the ballast to CSK byplaying back to back blinders. Moreover, as new players join in - DougBollinger, Mike Hussey, Daniel Vettori, Kevin Pietersen, Ross Tayloret al, the dynamics of the tournament can still change. One thing is afact, that Mumbai Indians have more or less qualified and are thefavourites to win the cup. Now the question is who will deny them -David Warner for DD, Vijay for CSK, Jacques Kallis for RCB or ChrisGayle for KKR?
Tendulkar remains the overwhelming sentimental favourite to take thecup to his Bandra residence.