Is IPL turning out to be India's nemesis?

The Indian Premier League, from its inauguration in 2008, has been the most anticipated and perhaps celebrated tournament every year. There is no question about the fact that an amazing reach to spectators all around the world has been made which has resulted into exponential amounts of money being collected. It has almost been like a lucrative way of globalising cricket. It is only logical to assume that the BCCI and Indian cricket team would've reaped the maximum rewards. Although this couldn't more true financially, the same cannot be said for other aspects.

The IPL has almost turned into a business for the BCCI. The production and revenue collection are maximum while consumer satisfaction and loyalty is also very high. Apart from the millions of dollars collected as revenue from sponsors and advertisers, 
The money collected from the sale of tickets is vast. The players also benefit from a salary that alone overtakes their yearly earning while the fans just get entertained to the core. However, its original purpose hasn’t yet been fulfilled. “Where talent meets Opportunity” may be the tagline, but almost no players have gotten into the senior team via their performances in the IPL, especially in India. 

 Cricketers like Paul Valthathy, Swapnil Asnodkar, CM Gautam are publicized and trending one season and almost forgotten in the others. Promising young talent such as Ishwar Pandey, Sanju Samson, Gurkeerat Singh and Hardik Pandhya is mismanaged- given a stint in the A team or the invitational teams and not given a promotion regardless of their performance. Consistent performers like Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and Naman Ojha aren’t even selected in the A team itself. To add to this dilemma, MS Dhoni’s public harangues about there being a dearth of ‘quality' all rounders and fast bowlers reveal not only reluctance but also a lack of information. As medium pacers and fast bowlers, only 2-3 bowlers have been used long term, and same goes for allrounders. Even for the A Teams, the same group of players like Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwari and Robin Uthappa, have been used and none of them has made the Indian team for even a short period of time.

It is not that the IPL hasn’t been successful overall, it is turning out to be reasonably ineffective and monotonous now. Ironically, its main purpose hasn’t been carried out for India, but for other countries who have benefitted greatly. Players like David Miller, Glenn Maxwell, Kieron Pollard and many more have earned a place in their national teams due to recognition in the IPL. For many countries, playing well in the IPL has become a way to assure your selection in the playing 11 or better still set a bar for selection. The other teams have been beneficiaries. The reason- Too much of focus on the 4 foreign players selected, and even with there being 7 Indians, not many selections are influenced from it. No rules such as mandating a certain number of domestic players in the playing 11 have been made. 

To add to that, Fanie De Villier’s recent statement about IPL benefitting SA more than India is absolutely spot on. India has almost become a second home for a majority of South Africans, Australians and West Indians. The mind-boggling stat of AB de Villiers playing more T20s in India than SA may also suggest that India may be the primary home for some! With the added experience of the conditions, the effects of the pitches has also severely appeased with better preparation of the opposition. Playing in India has almost become a fixed constant for most of these players, which was a massive contributor to India losing “at home” (where they were playing after almost 2 years) and SA winning “away.” The IPL hasn’t been short of controversies either right from the first season itself with Lalit Modi being ridiculed, spot fixing coming up more than a few times, players, team owners and recently even franchises being banned. 

Regardless of its merits, the IPL has certainly raised a more than a few problems for India. To make it even worse, it has benefit their opponents. While it continues to be popular among fans and players, its major purpose should be brainstormed by the BCCI pundits, because just revenue collection doesn’t make your team successful. To discontinue the IPL wouldn’t be a mistake, but not to take advantage of it will. Change of mindsets is required; for the IPL has done for other countries what it should’ve done for India.