Lalit Modi outsourced the IPL-2 to South Africa

The second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is being played in South Africa since April 18, 2009. We bought the series of 59 matches on Willow TV for $79 here in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Every morning bright at 6:00 AM my wife and I are ready to watch the games with a hot cup of bed-tea and our lap-tops. We don’t want to miss even the toss. Are we really the exceptions? We are kind of retired and don’t have to go to office every morning but our regular chores suffer as neither of us is willing to miss any excitement. Most of the days there are 2 matches and the whole excitement would finish around 1:30 pm. The seven and a half minute strategy breaks after every 10 overs were annoying in the beginning but now it has become a welcome relief to refill your cup of tea and take a quick visit to the bathroom! It does not bother us whether the league is being played in India or in South Africa because even if we had to watch in the middle of the night, we would still watch it. So here is the message to Shri Lalit Modi, “you go girl!” Who cares if P Chidambaram was bitching or not? We do not care if ‘India Today’ thinks it was a bad idea. We are all having a lot of fun!

South Africa is an excellent choice for IPL-2

The BCCI decision to move the IPL tournament to South Africa is prudent and in many ways path breaking. Cricket is like a religion in India. People are not only passionate about the game, they worship our cricket icons. Taking any chances with their security would have been irresponsible for the Board of Control for Cricket in India as well as the Government of India. The second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is scheduled to begin from April 18, 2009, instead of April 10 as initially planned.

There are a number of indirect advantages of South Africa hosting an Indian Cricket Tournament. Besides the obvious security advantage, the cricketers may find better pitches in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Benoni and Potchesfstroom. Unlike the Indian tracks that are flat and dry, South African pitches might add little suspense to the exciting series. The international players might feel a little safer under the current unfortunate circumstances in India.

South Africa is an emerging economy with a relatively small population. The per capita income of 48 million people of South Africa is much higher than India or any other country on the sub-continent. It is undoubtly the leader of the continent of Africa with the current GDP of $283 billion. It is a rich country by the third-world standards. India would enhance the bilateral relations with South Africa by holding the IPL-2 in that country. I feel in the end, this could be a win-win situation for everyone concerned!

Should IPL be postponed till after the elections?

Should IPL be postponed till after the elections?

The more important question is, have we learnt anything from the carnage of 26/11? We are living in the post Pakistan world! There is no “Terror State of Pakistan” in existence any longer. What we have on our western border is a group of terror states within a failed state. This is a terrifying prospect with a huge potential of a constant spill-over in our own country. In these circumstances, holding a star-studded Indian Premier League (IPL) would be highly irresponsible. India can not guarantee the safety of ‘International Cricketers’ in any one state, forget about multiple locations. I bet you even today the terrorists from across the border can enter Bombay by sea and repeat the carnage in more or less the same fashion with not much different result. What has really changed? We should stop pretending as if we are safer in India than the rest of our neighborhood. The fact of the matter is that we are not!

Cricket on the Indian subcontinent would never be the same again after the attack in Lahore on March 3, 2009. In fact our own cricketers are not safe anymore in India or anywhere else in the subcontinent. These are high-value targets and you can not provide 24/7 security to some two dozen ‘Indian Cricketers’. We as a nation need to re-think about our internal security. Our politicians are more secured than any important person in India. We can afford to loose plenty of our politicians without any loss to the country but not our cricketers or business leaders or some gifted professionals. We have lived with the idea of an outdated security apparatus called ‘Indian Police’ for the past 60 years. This is no more an option. The past 20 years have shown us that the concept of ‘Law Enforcement’ is over. We as a nation must think of ‘Crime Prevention’ as an alternative. India needs to have a national debate on this subject. Till we fix our security let us forget about playing cricket in India.

Making of the Indian Premier League (IPL)

Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league created and promoted by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and supported by the ICC (International Cricket Council). Initially there are only eight teams in the league, comprising of a minimum of 16 players in each. All 8 teams are owned by the Indian Private Sector Companies, including some owned by famous Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Preity Zinta.

The IPL is the brainchild of Lalit Modi, the flamboyant vice-president of BCCI. It is modeled along the lines of club football in Europe, specifically the English Premier League. The IPL works on a franchise-system. These franchises were put up for auction, where the highest bidder won the rights to own the team, representing each city. The auction took place on January 24, 2008 and the total base price for the auction was $400 million. The auction actually fetched $725 million.

The Indian Premier League chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi announced Rs. 12 crore ($3 million) as the prize money for the Twenty20 cricket league. The inaugural DLF IPL tournament was played between April 18, 2008 through June 1, 2008. A total of 59 matches were played over 44 days. There were 96 Indians and 67 foreign cricketers, a total of 163 participants who played the league. According to Sharda Ugra, of India Today, “99 million people or 76% of the total trackable TV audience of 131 million watched the IPL over six weeks”.

The Pathans of India…

Yusuf Khan (born on November 17, 1982) and Irfan Khan (born on October 27, 1984) are the two Pathan brothers who have fired the imagination of Indian Cricket in the 21st century. Born to Mehmood Khan and Shamim Bano, the brothers grew up in a mosque in Baroda. Mehmood Khan worked as the muezzin. The impoverished Muslim family wanted their sons to become Islamic scholars, instead the brothers took interest in cricket. The family had no welfare checks coming. Like so many millions in India, they had their grit, determination and simple hard-work.

Although Yusuf is the older one, Irfan made his Test debut in the Second Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 2003. He was introduced as a left-arm fast-medium swing bowler, reminding some of the legendary Wasim Akram of Pakistan. Irfan improved his batting skills to become a bowling all-rounder. This was the birth of ‘Irfan Pathan’ the Indian pride after the renowned all-rounder and former skipper Kapil Dev. How did Irfan Khan become Irfan Pathan? Shamim Bano, his mother, laments “Tum logo ne uska naam badal diya hai” (you media people have changed his name). Does it matter? It suits him, anyway.

Yusuf Pathan, the elder brother (half-brother) is a hard-hitting right handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. He was selected for the Indian Squad for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, held in South Africa in September 2007. He made his Twenty20 international debut in final against Pakistan. His performance was hardly noteworthy, but India pulled off the last ball victory and the rest is history. Yusuf Pathan became a part of history-making win for India. Subsequently, because of a good domestic season, he was signed by the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League for $475,000. In the 2008 IPL season, Yusuf scored 435 runs and took 8 wickets. Shane Warne, the captain for Rajasthan Royals, placed great faith in Yusuf Pathan. He was the Man of the Match in the final against Chennai Super Kings. Yusuf Pathan has arrived.