Indian Premier League (IPL) Back On Track

IPL league is the new milestone in the field of sports. After the grand success of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008 last year, all in a new set of actions IPL 2009 is back again with new thrill and excitement.. Cricket, Cricket and only Cricket has dynamically changed the whole of sports arena and is the only factor that is driving the nation. It is not only a sport anymore, it is beyond that. People go crazy with it, it is entertainment, it is business and the most discussed topic..! A whole lot of marketing takes place around cricket.

It is a game of much dazzle and shine where the ownership is taken over by the infrastructure and private equity firms to film stars. The eight teams are sold in an amount beyond one’s imagination. In fact this game carries our country’s pride. The success itself is remarkable for the players. Of course there are players from all the countries who are brought in by our Corporate Giants.

Especially when we talk about our Indian players a whole package of perks and glamour is showered on the players considering them as national heroes. Someone is receiving Rs.1 Crore and a Porsche car, the other is getting a Mercedes Benz & Rs.50 lakhs. Players are gifted with apartments in the city of their choices. Various endorsements pour in like rain, free travel for all the players for the next 5 years and what not as their prizes and gifts !

With such craze the whole media economy booms up. With 90% television revenue the profits reaches its heights within a period of time. Initiatives are taken for television rights and franchise ownership because of the majority viewership during the matches. Big money is being spent to buy IPL players. Where on the on the other side, the same money have been the salaries of the hundreds and thousands of people who were fired because of recession. At the time when the economy is under pressure there is still the zeal for the Cricket obsessed fans.

The recent attack on Sri Lankan cricketers defies a hidden agenda if seen politically and logically. Nothing can be granted for an accident. So therefore because of the violent attack which left many of the cricketers injured the security budget has increased to up to ten times more that the usual. 

Sideways, the IPL is clashing with the Lok Sabha election that is approaching in haste. Both the big games is colliding with one another. Observing the current scenario of crash of economy the IPL craze people should think practically and act rationally. IPL is significant but more than this game of entertainment, to contest a free and fair general election is much more important and crucial. 

The immediate need is that we want able, honest and committed leaders. More than watching and enjoying hours of cricketing entertainment the election’s outcome will make us through this global recession and act against internal and external security threat. And in this case it is not wise to put much force on the cricket. The country will be a safe place to live in only if we are secured economically, politically and socially. The entertainment mood is temporary, remains for sometime and is forgotten after a while. 

But the strange thing that can be noticed is that why in sports only Cricket is the King. There are other sports and sports players who have equally contributed to the glory of the ‘Country India’. The Indian hockey team won the Asian Cup defeating Pakistan in 2008. Nobody seems to be bothered for the hockey team and unlike Cricket fame they go unnoticed. Each game has its own stand and should be encouraged. 

Nothing can stop the country to sway in with the coming IPL. The short format, Twenty20 version of Cricket has grabbed so much prominence that it is on the verge of making it’s way into the Olympics. There are two things that Indians are passionate for, Bollywood and Cricket. The game is on its heights. This tournament is the latest mania that has hit the country, and has left people bedazzled with illusion of what will be experienced over seven weeks of dance, music, and sport and sheer excitement.