Indian Cricket Fever - ICL Proves The Skeptics Wrong

ICL Proves The Skeptics Wrong

By Gaurang December 17 2007
The fact that the ICL was able to get off the ground was a significant achievement, considering the amount of opposition it generated from the BCCI, who saw it as a direct assault on its cricket monopoly. The BCCI tried its best to subvert, even sabotage, ICL's existence. But much to the dismay of the BCCI and delight of ordinary cricket fans their efforts were mostly unsuccessful.

The ICL showed that when cricketers are put in charge of cricket the product is of a much better quality, despite limitations in the raw materials, than when bureaucrats and politicians run the show. One of the key questions that skeptics of the ICL had posed was whether International players would be able to gel with Indian players, especially since there could have been a language and cultural barrier in the case of many of the young local players. That fear has been proven totally unfounded. In fact the International players have fitted in brilliantly with the local lads and as promised by Kapil Dev and Co. they have taken them under their wing and the local youngsters, and not so young Indian players alike, have benefited immensely from rubbing shoulders and sharing a locker room with the likes of Stuart Law, Chris Cairns, Marvan Atapattu, Craig McMillan, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Brian Lara, etc.

This aspect of the ICL is very heartening and in complete contrast to the Indian Premier League (IPL), that the BCCI is floating. The IPL has to date only announced the signing up of "Stars”, that too international ones. No Indian youngster has been signed up by the IPL.

In contrast not only has ICL signed up over a hundred young players it has given youngsters like Ali Murtaza of the Delhi Jets, or forgotten, but experienced domestic performers like Kiran Powar, brother of Ramesh, of Mumbai Champs and Rajagopal Sathish of the Chennai Superstars a shot at not just financial security, but a bit of fame, and the chance to display their skills to the whole world.

By bringing in professionalism in the running of cricket in India, ICL has already raised the bar several notches, and the BCCI are being pushed to improve their ways of operating as well. The Chennai Superstars under impressive Australia trio of Stuart Law, Ian Harvey and Coach Michael Bevan were deserving winners of the inaugural ICL T20 tournament, and already four more events have been planned for 2008.

The ultimate beneficiary of this competition will undoubtedly be the Indian fan, who despite providing huge amounts of money to the BCCI, as well as the ICC, has often received the shoddiest of treatment from these entities. If Indian fans are no longer treated like shoppers at a government ration shop, and instead treated more like well-heeled patrons at a fancy boutique, then the ICL will have done its job.

Now the ball is in BCCI’s court and it is high time it rescinds the ban on young Indian players who decided to play in the ICL. That BCCI were willing to rescind the ban on ICL’s foreign stars, such as Brian Lara, and Inzamam ul Haq, shows that they have no principled basis for their stand, which is nothing more than a thinly disguised lock-out of the young Indian cricketers whose labor they depend on for their fat paychecks. If the BCCI stopped acting like the proverbial dog in the manger and recognized that the ICL is simply helping to grow the pie of Indian cricket, it would welcome rather than fight the ICL tooth and nail while trying to hog the entire pie for itself.

Bookmark or share this story with: