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The Indian Premier League (IPL), irrespective of all the recent controversies, is the most envied league in the history of the game, writes Abhishek Dubey in The IPL Story: Cricket, glamour and big money (www.pearsoned.co.in). Describing India as ‘the financial superpower of world cricket,' he feels that our attitude as a cricket leader and owner of the costliest cricket property can be an indicator of our behaviour as world leaders.
Sporting innovation
‘The stiff upper lip started cracking' when India won the World Cup in 1983, the author traces. He observes that when Kapil Dev held aloft the Prudential World Cup at the famed Lord's balcony, it set in motion a revolution in world cricket. “In four years' time, in 1987, the cricket World Cup came out of England for the first time. Gradually, but surely, the epicentre too shifted from ‘classy' Lord's to noisy ‘Eden.' Within a decade, India began knocking at the power corridors of the world cricket administration.”
Cheerleading concept
A chapter devoted to ‘cheerleading and parties' recounts how cheerleaders were packaged in new and innovative forms to market the brand IPL. Their popularity had only increased since Vijay Mallya brought the Washington Redskins cheerleaders to perform at the Royal Challengers' games at the inaugural IPL, writes Dubey.
“The hype before the first match in the summer of 2008 was unbelievable. The same cheerleaders who had till now cheered on American footballers were now going to cheer an Indian franchise. The Redskins cheerleaders promised to deliver an entirely novel form of motivational dance – a blend of traditional all-American cheerleading moves and ‘Bollywood hip-hop' steps.”
The book chronicles the cheerleading innovation in the second avatar of the IPL, with Bollywood choreographer Shiamak Davar given the responsibility of tutoring the Angels, the cheerleaders of Shah Rukh Khan's team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, as a signal of a general willingness to go ahead with the concept.
Towards conclusion, looking at ‘the road ahead,' the author underlines the need for a healthy approach to succession. The Indian cricket team has seen what the Kumble-Dhoni model of settled succession can do, but the selectors are still not clear about MSD's replacement in the future, he frets. “In most cases, we place too much emphasis on individuals than on the system per se. Nothing exemplifies this better than the IPL.”
Cricket being the longest game to be played is the best possible test of human character, Dubey states. He puts the Australian team at one extreme end of the cricketing world, because it has made clear everything from vision to chain of command to leadership. “At the other extreme is the Pakistani team. Here, team captaincy is like a game of musical chairs …”
The author instructs that Lalit Modi's accusations of ‘conflicting roles' against the BCCI secretary merit attention despite sounding vindictive. He adds that in the interest of fair play all teams should have equal access to the available talent pool. “Unfortunately, the Chennai Super Kings owner has been accused of going out of his way to retain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, around whom they have supposedly built their brand. If brand-building around such players was so important, why was the league expanded from eight teams to 10?”
Topical replay that can keep you engaged during a weekend afternoon.
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