|
Smell the Cappucino, Guys! (ICL vs BCCI)
Interesting article......
A lot of comments about BCCI fit perfectly on PCB also!!!
Quote:
The BCCI-ICL war is escalating into full-fledged confrontation, what with the legal vultures hovering menacingly for the kill. The BCCI-ICL imbroglio has all the necessary doses of imbecile conduct, chaotic and bizarre over-reactions, and some emotional melodrama thrown in for that Ekta Kapoor effect. Since already enough has been written and volumes of audio files consumed on the subject, let me state what appears to be obvious, yet gets often overlooked.
Firstly, competition is good for any business. The BCCI is a money-making machine which will make the Indians play a best of 11 Twenty 20 cricket against Pakistan in Iceland if they could get a sponsor. So let us stop castigating ICL for it's flagrant commercialization; it's business. I am convinced that player health, burn-out, and strategic planning is far from anyone's so-called agenda.
Secondly, the BCCI has treated the Indian players, public, stadium, selection, domestic cricket, sponsors etc with contemptuous indifference. They have been authoritarian bullies, commanding unilateral powers but little foresight, and not an iota of common sense. I repeat, the ICL is a creation of BCCIs sloppy administration, confused priorities, deal-making, and of course, the mega bucks industry that cricket has developed into.
Thirdly, I cannot fathom as to why the BCCI has pressed the panic-buttons and sounded out dictatorial warnings to all and sundry cricketers threatening them with drastic consequences if they play some funky league cricket with yesteryear heroes? One should remember that most cricketers emerge from simple middle-class homes, and have a brief stint or shot at an India slot. Retirement age is fast-dropping, even as injuries cripple youngsters in their salad days. International cricket is usually dominated by a few superstars for decades; in effect, the potential openings are extremely limited.
Expectedly, the immature and tactless move has boomeranged, and the legal implications imply that BCCI has absolutely no right to issue such diktats. Period! In effect, BCCI stands thoroughly exposed of it's own limitations, it has lost popular goodwill, and the young cricketers today perceive it as a draconian empire. The PR war has been won by ICL hands-down.
Fourthly, considering domestic cricket has been such a low priority for BCCI, it is a welcome relief to have someone create a format where we might just revive flagging interest in unknown players with mighty potential. It might just work, if they (ICL) successfully graduate beyond the immediate farcical Twenty 20 circus, as they have now promised.
The fact that personalities dominate performance, and politics precedes planning, is obvious from the juvenile brownie points scoring attitude of BCCI by asking Sunil Gavaskar to create a rival league to take on Kapil Dev's ICL.
Another manifestation of BCCIs highly peevish propensities by perpetuating star wars amongst the Indian cricketers. BCCI instead should focus attention on NCA, improving associations, and creating a vibrant domestic environment of exciting cricket.
Sixthly, BCCI has missed the woods for the trees. Frankly, they are paranoid about losing their traditional sponsors to the ICL. This is naive, to say the least. Because in reality if ICL clicks, it will actually create a stronger appetite for cricket, increasing the size of the ad pie, and actually benefit all cricket stakeholders.
Sponsors will find attractive niche positioning for themselves, and those with less-fat-purses may also join the bandwagon. The BCCI is actually playing dog in the manger.
Seventhly, if ICL is able to create a round-the-year League cricket, much like several world-wide football leagues, it just might catch the fancy of the shifty youth, who seem to be increasingly attracted towards English football. In league sports, territorial boundaries dissolve, hard patriotism gives way to club affiliations, and the esoteric combination of multiple superstars of different hues playing together can make for a heady cocktail. Merchandising opportunities abound.
In fact, League cricket could engage viewers, by parading global talent alongside local aspirants creating an exotic mix.
Lastly, and more importantly, I hope the ICL-BCCI conflict makes the Indian cricketers come together under one united association where they can protect their own interests against getting exploited by either of the two bodies who may have their own vested interests, and axes to grind.
It is imperative that they become a collective body, as they can best comprehend what is good for the cricketers and Indian cricket. For instance, if the player association was truly active, both Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev could pool their heads together and negotiate the best terms for Indian cricket, instead of being pitted against each other by rival camps.
I remain an eternal optimist. Whatever happens, the purging of the ills of Indian cricket has at last begun.
|
http://www.cricketnext.com/blogs/sa...ucino-guys.html
|
4th September 2007, 04:58
Linear Mode
