World cup!
I just can't get enough of it. Can I? Of course, not. The whole of India is still reveling in the joy of a victory that was eagerly awaited. It is the first time the youth of this country is witnessing India win the most coveted trophy. And they want to make their earlier generation take notice that they too, can brag about their generations' cricketing victory just like they did in 1983. It's no more about Kapil's Devils. Of course, you can never forget the achievements of those yesteryear's superstars. But this generation, has never seen most of them play in their youth (in live I mean). And, this apparently explains the jamboree surrounding the triumph. Oh yeah, I completely forgot about what I started off saying. Wasn't I speaking about Diversity? Don't ponder over what diversity I am speaking about. I know this brings together the whole Nation. But here, the diversity I am speaking about is brought in by a younger sibling of the game. Call it a dwarfed clone of the ODI format. Yeah, you got it right. I was hinting about the T20 extravaganza. The buzz it has created is phenomenal! Right, if it is such a huge hit, then how does it diversify a country? Read on, to know more.
It was on 24th of September 2007, that Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Indian team, won the first ever T20 World cup event held in South Africa. And the announcement of the format was made in a grand furore. The win meant that, the country with a population of 1.2 billion had something else to worship apart from the "Run around the trees" Bollywood, and "Starting to get boring" Odis. The T20 win came as a reprieve for the worshipers of the game. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the board that controls the game in India, struck the iron hot, and decided to make some fast money out of this new trend, and in turn, give something back to the community which held high stakes in help running the board, the fans. Thus came into existence the multi-million entertainment brain child of the BCCI, the Indian Premier League aka IPL. That's enough of beating around the bush I guess!
I just can't get enough of it. Can I? Of course, not. The whole of India is still reveling in the joy of a victory that was eagerly awaited. It is the first time the youth of this country is witnessing India win the most coveted trophy. And they want to make their earlier generation take notice that they too, can brag about their generations' cricketing victory just like they did in 1983. It's no more about Kapil's Devils. Of course, you can never forget the achievements of those yesteryear's superstars. But this generation, has never seen most of them play in their youth (in live I mean). And, this apparently explains the jamboree surrounding the triumph. Oh yeah, I completely forgot about what I started off saying. Wasn't I speaking about Diversity? Don't ponder over what diversity I am speaking about. I know this brings together the whole Nation. But here, the diversity I am speaking about is brought in by a younger sibling of the game. Call it a dwarfed clone of the ODI format. Yeah, you got it right. I was hinting about the T20 extravaganza. The buzz it has created is phenomenal! Right, if it is such a huge hit, then how does it diversify a country? Read on, to know more.
It was on 24th of September 2007, that Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Indian team, won the first ever T20 World cup event held in South Africa. And the announcement of the format was made in a grand furore. The win meant that, the country with a population of 1.2 billion had something else to worship apart from the "Run around the trees" Bollywood, and "Starting to get boring" Odis. The T20 win came as a reprieve for the worshipers of the game. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the board that controls the game in India, struck the iron hot, and decided to make some fast money out of this new trend, and in turn, give something back to the community which held high stakes in help running the board, the fans. Thus came into existence the multi-million entertainment brain child of the BCCI, the Indian Premier League aka IPL. That's enough of beating around the bush I guess!
The IPL started off in 2008 as an 8 team league, where teams from different parts of the country represented a city or a state. The cities were auctioned off to the stalwarts in business and any other industry, where people could afford a few million dollars. India as a country had only seen regional battles which were limited to the domestic circuit, the Ranji trophy. But, come IPL, the cities got better hold of it and the esteem and pride of the city was at stake. Each one wanted their city’s team to fare better than their arch rivals. Yes, rivalry between cities is not new in India. They have been existent since long, albeit only in healthy competition. Losing to their rivals meant more than any other disappointment. A country that was united by the game was completely ripped apart by the very same game. It just got worse, when players were auctioned off to different franchises (rather cities). Someone’s favorite cricketer was playing for the rival team! And when the home team and such rival team clashed head on, more was at stake apart from just pride.
There was confusion, as to who to pitch for! The country was divided even more finely, in all possible cricketing angles.
Alright, but why did I even have to speak about unity? Where is the unity? Well, that is the beauty of this game. If it divides the country on a few fronts, it unites it in many other ways. There is something like a catchment area in and around the franchise city. These areas come together and unite for the team’s purpose, there by achieving unity at the grass root level. Furthermore, fans of a cricketing giant across different regions group into one and show the unity amongst them, despite being from different cities, despite playing against each others cities. This crisscross unity which could never have been achieved in any other aspect has been brought in by this new fantasy called IPL.
With India winning the world cup in 2011 and players being auctioned off once again and now even better with 10 teams in all, means the whole of India will be totally perplexed. No matter what, India is a country which can be totally flexible when it comes to backing their cricket team. The country which is all split up completely will get back together as one, when it comes to the national team in an international competition.
All said and done, it’s now time to put your party shoes on, go out and enjoy the game T20 style. Come 8th April, it’s all chaos and wham bam smacking (the T20 fever has got the better of me). India is still a country with much diversity and still united as a great power (I intend to speak only in regard to the game).
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