Cricket in India going the movies way...!

So much of cricket is being played in India now. ICL.. IPL..20-20, 50-50..players getting auctioned.. bollywood stars fighting for best of the teams. I wonder if cricket continues like this in India, there may be a day when cricket may overtake Indian movie industry for the sheer volume of cricket it will produce.

Today I watched an old 20-20 match again on ESPN. You know which one.. The thriller between India and Pakistan from 20-20 World Cup where India won through tiebreaker by 3-0. I did not get opportunity last year to watch this match as I was in US that time.

What a match it was! The match thoroughly entertained the crowd till the last ball and even beyond that. I should say it was full paisa vasool for every one!

As I knew the result already, this time I was watching the captaincy by both the team captains very closely. The match very effectively proved that Dhoni was a very intelligent cricketer of the two. This was evident in the selection of 5 bowlers for the tie breaker.Dhoni kept more of slow and spin bowlers and 2 seamers, where as Shoeb Malik erred and took more seamers and fewer spinners. Dhoni intelligently started off with Sehwag, Harbhajan and Robin and kept his seamers at the end. The slow bowlers bowled with their natural run up and pace and hit the wickets always.

Where as Shoeb started off with seamers and that too with a short run up! These guys erred again because they were not at all comfortable with short run up at all and could never hit the wickets! At the end Dhoni found 100% success and Shoeb 0%. It was 3-0! I guess team India was certainly better prepared to face this kind of emergency and Pakistan looked totally clueless.

Whoever wins or loses, it is ultimately the quality of Cricket I always enjoy. I feel some of the matches have some great lessons to learn from, in the way they have played. There is strategy.. there is plan, emotion, passion, grit and determination and lots of masala and suspense. Because of all these ingredients the cricket rules in India and players have become demi-GODs.

If you see the second edition of ICL tournament has produced some very good thriller and breath taking actions and whole tournament was really worth watching for the time and money you invested.ICL has come a long way since its first edition. I still remember how Stuart Binny changed the course of the match in just 3 overs and how Lance Klusener single handedly fought for his team till the last delivery. Some of the matches were simply out of this world!

People are looking eagerly for ICL tri-series Word cup edition happening next week between ICL India, ICL Pakistan and ICL-Rest of the World. Kapil is all smiles now after the second league. Unfortunately Media in India is very biased now and is not giving enough coverage for this . The best of youth talent coming from many Indian towns and proving their worth in ICL are not getting due recognition by the media. That is very sad! But I am very happy that at least these youngsters found that much needed break in ICL and proving themselves. They are doing financially well too.

Ok.. now coming back to the main topic, Cricket in India is definitely going the Indian movies way. My imagination is going wayward. If it continues how could be the future of cricket in India? I am just listing few of the possibilities here.

1. There may be some 800-100 matches being played annually in India just like the movies.
The cricket might become very commercialized like some players might say "I am booked for next 2 years. No call sheets now please !"
2. Each player irrespective of his experience will have a Individual Financial consultant, Secretary, Physio, Trainer, Doctor, A mobile Gym , Clinic and possibly a mobiile family or girl friend ! :)

3.There will be DVDs, VHS Tapes, VCDs of all matches available and people might watch some good matches again and again just for thrill.
4.Just like movies, all our kids might start dreaming of playing for a cricket club and making it big.
5. Many of the district places might come up with sophisticated world-class stadiums and multiplexes.
6. You and your son might go for an evening 20-20 match while your wife and daughter might opt for a multiplex movie.
7. There will be many ICL and IPLs. Cricketers might change their clubs just like some one changes his companies in Industry.
8. Because of the job opportunities these matches will create, there will be better mobility of funds un the market and might help economy further.
9. As players contract is purely based on quality cricket he plays, no body can take their place for granted in the team. Thus there will be many new youngsters coming to the national stage and getting recognized.
10. When you are fed with too much of something, you will lose the taste and start looking for fresh taste and new avenues.

11.There will be all types of cricket being played.. 20-20, 50-50 and Test Cricket..etc., Different class of audiences will be evolving very similr to people watching only comedies, romatic movies, suspense thriller or message oriented movies.
The new avenues look infinite for me.

1. After some time, people might lose their interest in Men's cricket. Why not Women's cricket and making it this big? We have so much to do in Indian Women Cricket. Is Subhashchandra reading this blog?

2. We have many other sports we can think promoting like this. Recently concluded Bangalore Open was such big success. We can take it further.
3. Force One of Vijay Mallya is coming up in a big way. This looks very promising in the coming years.
4. Indian Hockey...! I dont need to mention here what all we can do in Indian Hockey. Should we think of one more league like ICL to revive Indian Hockey?

You can think of many such possibilities.Personally I am very much interested in sharing such ideas and help if some one is willing to work towards bringing them to reality.

The coming days in Indian Sport are looking bright. I guess ICL and IPL rivalry is good for
our talented youngsters and as my friend Aravind Hebbalalu said other day "the day is not far off when ICL and IPL teams will lock horns to win some coveted trophy." At the end of the day it is the victory of cricket and victory of sports community!

Long live the sports community in India.