Now that we have reached the end of IPL4, it is that ponderous, armchair moment to sit back, review and analyse the fourth edition of the IPL, as also the first without its chief architect and ex-Commissioner, Lalit Modi.
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This IPL will be remembered for the many variables going into it from the very onset – starting with the auctions for the 2 new teams with strange pre-conditions of billion dollar valuations for bidders, the sudden review of the conditions and extension of bid dates, the surprise win of the Kerala Kochi Tuskers, Indian Minister Shashi Tharoor’s involvement in Kochi through his then-fiancee, now wife, Sunandha Pushkar, the infamous Lalit Modi tweet over her ownership, the resignation of the Indian minister, the no-holds barred war on Modi and his falling from grace, the appointment of a new IPL Commissioner, Chirayu Amin, subsequent ownership issues over Kochi Tuskers, the re-auctions of the players with only Mumbai and Chennai choosing to retain their quota of 4, Pakistan players still kept out of the auctions, the shocking dismissals of Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings XI from the league due to irregularities, a stay from the courts on their dismissal, allowing them to play IPL 4, a cramped schedule with a challenging slot immediately after a long World Cup, Sri Lanka threatening to pull its players out early - it certainly had it all.
End result, a complicated lead-up, a confusing line-up and the cricket world’s most expensive league, and also the most successful thus far, faced some awkward questions. Did IPL 4 live up to its high profile? If not, did Lalit Modi’s exit play a role? Are the falling ratings a pattern for the future?
Qualitatively speaking, IPL 4 had it all – best of the world talent, new stars, some explosive cricket and the expected heavy dose of glamour. From the spectator’s point of view, there was absolutely nothing to suggest that Lalit Modi’s exit had taken any sheen away from IPL. The organisation was near perfect, the stadia beautiful and if anything, controversies lesser with more focus on the actual cricketing action on the field. So Modi’s exit could well be taken as a positive, if at all.
 Perhaps then, the falling ratings could simply be put down to viewership fatigue. No doubt, there has been too much of cricket. And particularly, coming after such a World Cup high for the Indian fan, there was really no place to go from there, but down. This, coupled with the long schedule of the IPL, clearly must have contributed to a cricket over-kill.
Two other factors, while independently, may not have affected the league so much, together have no doubt had a very strong role to play. First, the introduction of 2 new teams could well have been a case of quantity over quality, at least in the short term. Second, the player re-auctions and the baffling refusal of most teams to retain their core players, meant that 3 years of team loyalties built up among the fans was squashed under the auctioneer’s hammer. Suddenly, the stars making the crux of the team were playing for the opposing teams, a fact that has been hard to digest. The cornerstone of IPL success, the fan loyalties, had overnight been brought to down to nought.
Of course, the one thing the Indian board did not do was to compromise IPL for international cricket. Clearly and absolutely, their primary focus was ensuring that all the India stars appeared for the most important cricketing event of the year, IPL. End result, as expected, was a player melt-down which now reads like an obituary list for the Indian team, as far as the West Indies tour is concerned - Tendulkar, rested for both test and ODI’s, Dhoni, rested for ODI’s, Gambhir, injured during IPL and out of both tests and ODI’s, Sehwag, injured during IPL and out of test and ODI’s, Yuvraj Singh, respiratory infection and out of test and ODI’s, Cheteshwar Pujara , injured during IPL, out of tests. The West Indies must now be queuing to welcome what is almost equivalent of an India A side, under the guise of the Indian cricket team.
While IPL4 has caught the tired cricket fan off-guard, the soundness of the format and the appetite of the Indian viewer for cricket will most definitely ensure many more glorious years of IPL. No doubt, fan loyalties will build again, teams will get their settled look, cricketing calendars will be better planned, IPL may even have its own window, the viewer will overcome his fatigue and the big bash will continue to conquer more frontiers. While the true Indian fan may put country before league, love it or leave it, IPL is here to stay!
Modi’s exit could well be taken as a positive, if at all.
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