Whiplash

Indian Paisa League, Indian Performance League, Indian Fatigued
League, call it what you want, the annual cricketing tamasha is back.
A whirligig devised by impresario Lalit Modi who was used by the
cricket board to break the back of Subhash Chandra’s Indian Cricket
League and then dumped to the rubbish heap of history by a conniving N
Srinivasan is trying desperately to breathe. Cricket fatigue stems not
just from the players themselves, but from the entire eco system that
Modi built around the bulge bracket league. Dang, it is now beginning
to hurt. Hurting advertisers, sponsors, viewers, spectators, franchise
owners who try desperately to keep their chins up, the entire ball of
wax.

One can argue that even at the cost of playing too much cricket, the
league has thrown up exciting talent. Talent like R Ashwin, Maneesh
Pandey, Umesh Yadav, Paul Valthaty and so many more, but it has in the
process turned Indian cricket stars into a bunch of tired, weary and
exhausted players. Yes, the money is good. After all Vijay Mallya who
doesn’t have money to pay his pilots and cabin crew forked out in
excess of $2 million for power hitter Chris Gayle.

At the core of Indian Jaded League’s problems is scheduling. With the
ICC giving no clear window for the tourney and the brash and imperious
BCCI sticking to its guns of playing in the abnormal heat of April and
May, half the ‘firang’ players are not available for the first half.
Last year was a sure shot recipe for disaster, a sublime World Cup
fell headlong into the drudgery of the League leading to boredom all
around. In many ways, this is the make or break season for a tiring
IPL, even B Town has decided that it is no longer afraid of the
cougar. Sajid Khan’s Houseful 2 is going to be released on Friday
itself going eyeball to eyeball with what was unthinkable a couple of
seasons back – IPL.

I may still be proved wrong, one power hitting exhibition may well
ignite this season. Yawn, but if the ratings don’t zoom, it will be
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
So sorry, I fell asleep…