Yes! It is true that cricket is larger-than-life-sport in India. What our political leaders cannot do, a one day cricket match can achieve, namely, make forget differences and be united – at least for that day. But should an IPL auction get that much coverage, that too during prime time, is a big question. The whole exercise exposes further the unholy nexus between the corporates and the media. Most of the IPL franchises are owned by the top corporates of India. Several of them also own very many media organisations. However, getting a nation-wide coverage of the auction drama would only add to the sale-value of their respective team. It is not for nothing that Kolkatta Night Riders has bought Goutham Gambir for 2.4 million dollars, or Irfan Pathan by Delhi Dare Devils for 1.9 million dollars. The corporates are not so much interested in these players as the money they (cricketers) can amass for their respective franchise. Hence, the likes of Laras and Gnagulys are a spent force and do not have any re-sale value. It is a shame that cricketers are reduced to roadside consumables so that mammon can fill the coffers of the corporate.
Indian tv channels had gone hammer and tongs exposing the corruption of the then IPL chairman, Lalit Modi sometime ago. The channels described IPL as a haven for corrupt practices. The same channels are now in awe of the IPL. An ironic volte-face, that is.
The idea of the BCCI to develop IPL like that of English Premier League would have looked good, except for the fact that IPL matches turn out to be a mere spectacle of glamour and sensation. The real game is forgotten and what remains in the minds of the spectators at the end of the day is sleaze and glaze of it. Further, the matches are just a medium for the advertisers to splash their product messages somehow. There is no more the game anymore. What is left is only the advertising game. It is indeed shocking to what extent they can go on doing this. We thought at least the six deliveries of an over will be spared. It is not to be! Now you are made to see ads even when the bowler bowls – not just below the screen, but in the middle as well. One wonders why the Indian fans still tolerate all this and do not protest. In the mean time, cricketers are not complaining, what with them making a killing out of the auction.
