Steaming in from the Pavilion End is Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga. With four needed off one ball, a billion hearts can’t but stop pounding… It would be unreasonable, dicey and, perhaps, blasphemous to predict the sequence of events on that (prospective) fateful day — April 2 — but no matter what, the two players in question will be hand-in-glove only six days later. Long live Mumbai Indians! Welcome to the ‘real’ world of cricket…
The entire cricket-loving world is all set for 90 days of non-stop ‘madness’. If the first half is about patriotism and national fervour, the second is about providing value for every dollar earned (read Indian Premier League). Even as the Country vs Club debate continues, everyone — from advertisers to marketers, cable operators to viewers, journalists to players — is hungry for a piece of the pie.
How then do all ‘parties’ plan to milk the proverbial cow? All of these issues and more were discussed threadbare at the Sportz Power India Cricket Forum 2011 in Mumbai on Wednesday. The pros (and cons) of ‘Cricket’s Big Bang’ threw up quite a few interesting facts.
First of all, no broadcaster says, “Oh! Spare a thought for the poor viewer,” anymore. The viewer isn’t poor by any stretch of imagination. He has 400 channels to choose from. And he’s got the remote control. It’s the broadcaster’s prerogative to ensure he doesn’t end up becoming poor! So don’t be surprised if the Ekta Kapoors and Indrani Mukerjeas come up with something out of the ordinary to keep the housewives happy. Secondly, the average Indian is so fatigued after work that cricket will provide for a soothing balm. Ninety days of non-stop cricket? Bring it on! In India, there is nothing like ‘excess’ as far as cricket is concerned.
In fact, we suffer from withdrawal symptoms when denied action. Thirdly, and most importantly, the players don’t mind getting sold like stallions at the auction and then working like horses for their franchises.
One of the panellists stated the obvious when he said how channels ‘create’ 6,500 seconds of ad slots instead of the ‘ideal’ 4,200 during an ODI. The trick is simple. You don’t have to wait for Ravi Shastri to complete, “Thirty-two gone, it’s 141 for three.” Did someone say consumer is king?
India is still a ‘single-TV household’ market but with 12 million TV sets sold by the year, a paradigm shift will take place by the time the 2015 World Cup is here. We could be watching India vs Australia at the MCG and saas-bahu soaps under the same roof.
The fact that we are still in the ‘Stone Age’ as far as TV coverage is concerned was proven when it came to light that British broadcasters actually have two feeds for every football match — one for pubs and clubs (with ads) and the other for households (subscription-based).
The concluding session was about the men who eventually matter — the players. So how exactly do players plan to go through the ‘trauma’ of playing non-stop cricket? Where should they draw the line? Or are they empowered to? Panellists touched upon the issue of the non-existence of players’ associations in India, the ‘Injured Premier League’, and the absence of a well-defined cricket ‘season’. Players choose to carry niggles and play on because of insecurity and paranoia. The soul is spiritual, the mind is infinite, but the body has limitations and restrictions.
It is, however, imperative to usher in a ‘method’ in all this madness. Does anyone care? Long live cricket! Long live Mumbai Indians!
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