IPL & the Stagnant Mindset

There are a lot of Indians (mostly but not only older people) who only find faults with IPL. At the heart of it, their reasons reflect the mindset many of them still have: that we can’t do anything well; that the West is better at executing ideas; that we are a poor country; and that ours is the “spiritual domain”, not the material world.

The detractors complain that IPL promotes jingoism in Indians. But what exactly is wrong in feeling a sense of pride? After all, the concept has been planned, organized and executed spectacularly well. But the same people will praise China for conducting the Olympics!

Another complaint is that IPL adds to players’ injuries. They’ll cite Dhoni and Gambhir as Exhibits A and B for the prosecution. But don’t injuries happen even without IPL? Didn’t Dravid break his jaw in a test match recently? And if a player is willing to risk injury, that’s his choice. Last I checked this was still a free country. These people admire the West for the freedom it gives its citizens. But not when we have the same thing here. Wonder why!

Then there are those who prefer to see countries playing each other. They fear that IPL will lead to the end of international cricket since Lalit Modi wants to make the IPL calendar bigger every year. C’mon. Things change. Old is not necessarily gold. Remember what that old ad used to say? “Tradition: that’s just how things used to be”.

Some disapprove of the level of commercialization of the sport. Like the plans to create franchisees of IPL entities abroad. So apparently it’s ok if Pizza Hut and Domino’s open franchisees here. But not if we open franchisees there. Why the double standards?

They also complain that the club owners take precedence over the players. Really? Do you see Nita Ambani more than Mumbai Indians? Or India Cements’ CEO more than Chennai Super Kings? It’s only the Bollywood contingent that tries to share screen time with the players. And even Bollywood may be doing it to attract more publicity for their team. Just business, nothing personal. Is that so hard to understand?

Then there’s possibly the real “problem” for many: the money involved. Some complain that many cricketers now retire to focus solely on IPL. Who said that cricketers have an obligation to play for their country? Hockey players do play for the nation and last time I saw, they had to go on strike just to get paid! So what if some players earn exorbitant amounts for 2 months of effort? They didn’t steal the money. The team owners, advertisers and the viewing public willingly pay that and more. It’s not our tax money that pays their fees! Like it or not, we are not a communist nation. We are capitalists.

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