Bengaluru to Bloemfontein-New Lands indeed!

No one is getting the joke of an INDIAN premier league in South Africa.IPL is supposed to be a domestic tournament a la EPL.Imagine Chennai Superkings against Kolkata Knightriders scheduled at Capetown.The idea of a genuine domestic cricket league is lost somewhere in the noise of hardpolitik and business.

Lalit Modi,known for his astounding business acumen,must have had some idea about the biggest democratic exercise in the world.Scheduling a cricket tournament full of reputed international players(Even Pietersen is playing for the moolah missing his wife) and promising young players all across the nation in 8 hotspots which will be busy in selecting their rulers for the next 5 years amidst tight security is a SILLY idea(to put it mild).

The government cannot be blamed.Another 26/11 and another Kasab cannot be entertained on the eve of elections.People have started taking Internal security as seriously as unemployment or rising prices.One grenade on any IPL team bus would have meant a defeat at the hustings for Congress.BJP talking about IPL as national pride sounds contrived and smells of politics.

If IPL had been a mere cricket tournament,it would have been cancelled this year.But it has become such a "heady mix of business and sport" that it could not be.There was too much at stake.8 franchisees are yet to reap what they had sown last year.TV rights were talked about in billion dollars.Auction of players take place frantically.If shops are forced to shut down in the east end,open them up in the west.

IPL is a big business with cricket as it's USP.In IPL,they do not play cricket .They merely sell it.Sachin,Ganguly and Dhoni endorse the product "IPL" just like Pepsi or Mysore Sandal soap.Cheerleaders add to the glamour.I know people who shout "Show those girls!who is this bloody Ravindra Jadeja?Why do they keep showing him?".I feel like shouting,"Bloody fool!This is cricket and not any Bipasha Basu item number!".

IPL is like a Bollywood blockbuster-3 hours of fun,strong heroes,dramatic escapes,silly pranks(remember Slapgate?),girls with cleavage and a happy ending(Even if Warne takes 4 wickets,an Indian team wins,right?!).So enjoy the spectacle on your prime time television.Cricket will survive not because of IPL but inspite of it.Let the business succeed and Lalit Modi make huge profits!Let the 8 franchisees come back with fat purses!And finally let Sachin hit a sixer or two!Only that can make an ordinary CRICKET fan like me to smile.