Sharad Deep, a senior sports journalist, says round-the-year matches have dented the classic format and encouraged unscrupulous sponsors like betting platforms. His views:
Till about two decades ago, sports lovers in India used to wait for the winters to enjoy for the cricketing season to enjoy the Test and ODI matches. Gradually, as the number of viewers grew in leaps, the sponsors and investors saw a huge money-spinner in the game. Cricket authorities became the chessboard of power games which wielded tremendous influence.
The focus of both domestic and the International Cricket Council (ICC) shifted to one-day format which witnesses a drastic phase out of the classical form of cricket – the tests – and as the wheel rolled on, to the 20-over format. Quick results, more thrills, a lusty audience and a dash of Bollywood glamour – the recipe for a lucrative league was ready.
Though T20 games gained popularity instantly when it took the centre-stage about 18 years ago, with India winning the inaugural World Cup in 2007, the craze and madness for this format skyrocketed with the advent of IPL, the most popular cricket league in the world.
With the highest financial perks in the world, it is the dream destination of every player of all the cricket playing nations. Though many other boards have tried to replicate the IPL, none could even get even closer to the bar set by the BCCI which holds the highest grosser event of its kind in the world.
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While many upcoming players benefitted from the advent of IPL, the short-over format has quietly buried the original Test format, and is increasingly threatening the existence of ODI cricket as well. Though the cricket bodies are making all efforts to keep classical cricket alive (by limiting the number of overs in tests drawing results), the classic format is struggling to hold ground. Test cricket used to be the real test of a sportsman’s cricketing stamina, strength and strategy. It has now been replaced by quick-fire rounds.
A similar fate stares at One Day cricket, where the interest of the audience has now shrunk to the first and the last ten overs. The updates are easily availabile in terms of score statistics, videos clips et al on mobile phones. And one can remain at work while keeping a tab on the match too; the real time viewership is no longer required.
Yet another sore point is the betting, legal or illegal, involved in the game. It is both surprising and shocking that a betting platform like Dream 11 has found place on the jersey of Team India. Worse, many current and former players have been promoting this shamelessly.
Though a huge amount of money is now involved in the shorter formats of this game, the controlling boards should also set guidelines limiting profiles of stakeholders (sponsors) as such penetration is not possible without surpassing the norms. I remember one incident when a cigarette brand had made way to the sponsors of Team India. It created such outrage that the board had to retract its decision. But there is no place for dignity and morality in the game now. When money is the sole lord, ethics are the first casualty.
As told to Rajat Rai
