A Common Fan’s Sports Diary

Wonder if these guys ever talk about improving the Ranji Trophy?

The BCCI wants India to play as many international fixtures to possible because these matches net them a lot of money. Subsequently the heavy international calendar ensures that the tired Indian internationals rarely play in the domestic tournaments like the Ranji trophy, unless they have been dropped and are looking to prove a point. This reduces the star quotient of the domestic circuit and dilutes the quality of the cricketing fare and the intensity of the competition. A combination of these reasons ensures that the fans stay away and as a result the state associations and the BCCI make very little money from these games. As a result these bodies take very little active interest in these games. No effort is made to improve the state of these domestic tournaments.

The players who play in these tournaments have a million reasons to feel dispirited. They play in front of nonexistent crowds. They get paid poorly. And realistically speaking they don’t have a great opportunity to make a case for themselves, thanks to the poor quality of the pitches and the lack of quality competition. Runs scored and wickets taken are always taken with a pinch of salt. Players are rarely put in situations which test their mental fortitude and help them mature as cricketers. Most of the players who shine and get a chance to play at the next level are not well prepared to handle the rarefied air of international cricket. And not because they didn’t have the ability but because they have no experience or practise of having played on sporting pitches or against quality opposition or having been in tough situations. 99% of people reading this will not be able to name the top scorer and the top wicket- taker in last season’s Ranji trophy . If you can then may god bless you.

So is it wrong if players are ready to give an arm and a leg to play in the IPL?

The money is important but there are many other reasons why domestic players would be ready to forego the entire Ranji Trophy season to play a couple of IPL games

Prof Ratnakar Shetty and the BCCI are worried about the charms of the IPL but are they doing anything to make the Ranji Trophy exciting.

The Ranji format is flawed and fundamentally prone to produce defensive boring cricket. Borrowing a few ideas from Australia and South Africa will address that problem. But Mr Shetty and gang either find high scoring draws exciting or they schedule their discussions on domestic cricket during the IPL’s 10 minute strategic timeouts.

Seriously , is it absolutely impossible to market the Ranji Trophy in a cricket crazy country like ours?

Will it be difficult to draw crowds and attract sponsors if UP’s pace battery of RP Singh, Pravin Kumar and Sudeep Tyagi took on the might of Gambhir and Sehwag on a bouncy track with both sides playing to win. A few foreign players could be thrown in to add to the competitive intensity and the star power.

Will this lead to revenue generation from the Ranji Trophy and a better lot of players coming out of domestic cricket.

Yes

Is that in the best interests of the BCCI, the state associations, future India aspirants as well as Indian cricket in general

Yes

Does the BCCI control all the variables that are required to make this happen?

Yes, unless they are being blackmailed by someone from another cricketing nation who has a video of the entire board involved in a gay orgy in the middle of the Wankhede

One of the biggest challenges facing the ICC is the expansion of the game – how to make it popular in more countries.

There are a lot of new countries which play the game but it looks unlikely that the game will really take off there.

The reasons for this not happening are manifold

There is little or no financial security for a player from one of the emerging countries. This is a huge deterrent and creates a multitude of other challenges. It stops people from taking to the game in a big way – The players are largely restricted to expatriates from the major cricket playing nations. Few native residents take to the sport and as a result there is a small pool of players available and the country cannot improve as a cricketing nation.

There are other issues for the lot who take to the sport braving the financial uncertainties. They need to play against better opposition on a regular basis to improve their game. They require exposure to top quality coaching and cricketing stratagem. For lack of all these, even the most talented cricketers from a lesser nation cannot realise his full potential.

As the sport isn’t very popular, the country lacks for funds and can barely develop any kind of infrastructure or run coaching and scouting programs for young players.

Other than international cricket, opportunities to play cricket exist in the IPL and the domestic leagues of England, Australia and South Africa but they are extremely limited. When a clutch of established players can go undrafted in the IPL, what chance does an unheralded player from a developing cricketing nation have?

Other than the task of growing the game in the developing nations, the ICC also needs to arrest the slide that the game is facing in countries like Zimbabwe and the West Indies. These countries are also suffering from lack of sufficient funds

Many these problems could be addressed, atleast in large part, if there were a few more professional leagues on the lines of the IPL.

Before we explain how, we first need to confirm if cricket can accommodate more such leagues.

In terms of availability of players there shouldn’t be a problem. There are enough international players without IPL affiliations to support atleast a couple of more leagues. Then there are the first class players from other cricket playing nations. And finally there are the players from the lesser cricketing nations – atleast a few of them will find a place if there were more leagues.

Finding sponsors is not a problem. And as far as markets are concerned, India itself can accommodate more than one league. The last IPL showed that even a country like South Africa can support a league like this. All in all there shouldn’t be a problem in having more than one league.

There could be questions about whether the new leagues would be as popular as the IPL. After all spectator interest is driven by marquee names and currently the IPL seems to have all of them. This issue will automatically get addressed by market economics and player preferences as it happens in the case of football. If there was a league based in Australasia, then a lot of players from the southern hemisphere could gravitate there. Team owners from different leagues could outbid each other for the big names.

A Champions League amongst teams from different leagues will also make more sense.

Scheduling shouldn’t be a problem. The ICC is anyways trying to set aside a window for the IPL. The other leagues could be held around the same time as it happens in football or even basketball.

Now to understand how it will help the ICC in promoting the game in the newer cricketing nations and rescuing it in the West Indies.

More leagues will mean more requirements for players. Today’s IPL teams have a choice of plenty when it comes to foreign players and are hard pressed to find good Indian ones. The good teams are slowly realizing the merits of scouting and player development. The proliferation of leagues will take this to the next level. Today an IPL team based in Rajasthan goes and scouts for talent in the states of Gujarat and M.P. Tomorrow they could be headed to Barbados and Western Australia and even Harare. There will opportunities for talented players from the lesser nations as well. Countries like Trinidad and Tobago and Wales are nothing in international football. We would have never heard of the likes of Dwight Yorke and Ryan Giggs if there was no premiership. We wouldn’t have heard of Hakeem Olajuwon if there was no NBA.

American baseball teams run full-fledged programs in the Central and South American nations. These programs help in identify and training future stars. Lots of European clubs do the same in Africa and South America. This way the clubs help build the infrastructure and run the youth programs – things which the poorly funded national association cannot do most of the time.

The Pittsburgh Pirates recently found two Indians with the physical tools to become top class pitchers. They took them to America and offered them professional contracts. They are currently playing in the minor leagues and are being top class training. If one of them could make it to the top then the Pirates would do more for the game of baseball in India then the Baseball Federation of Indian could have ever done. A team like the Delhi Daredevils could do the same thing in cricket for a less endowed cricketing nation.

The professional leagues will offer financial security to a talented player from a lesser nation. A player with potential will have all the motivation to actively pursue the game. Playing with the best in the business will help them realize their full potential. These players will learn a lot from playing in the leagues and that will help them when they play for their national sides. Other players from their countries will also benefit from the experience of these players. Some of them could learn enough from the experience to eventually become scouts and coaches – they will help in finding and grooming more talent. These guys could serve as great role models inspiring to induct a whole new generation into the sport.

Most of these benefits could apply to a country like the West Indies as well. The drying talent pool could be reinvigorated if more cricketers could make a good living playing abroad. Jamaica made it to the World Cup of Football, thanks to the bunch of players who play in the lesser leagues in England. Would these players have had the same appetite for the game if they had to do a day job to support their families and playing for the national team was the best they could do.

Would this reduce the importance of international cricket?

No, because International cricket would still serve as the best platform to display your talent to the clubs. Players with international experience will always be more sought and better paid. The ICC could do a few things to ensure that the sanctity and popularity of international cricket remains intact – Like defining some quotas for international players. They will also need to handle the scheduling of the international and league calendar in a manner that players don’t get burnt out and there is minimal conflict of interest.

In twenty -20, the ICC has discovered a format that they can market to the world. Creating more professional leagues will go a long way in making the game truly global.

The IPL was expected to be different in South Africa, but no one would have expected so many things to change.

The crowd and the atmosphere in the stadium was a pale shadow of the frenzy of the 2008 edition but that was on expected lines. What really took us by surprise, and pleasantly so, was the return to sanity for bowlers of all kinds. The run-rate on day one was a measly 6.68 and atleast half a dozen bowlers had outstanding outings as compared to just three batsmen. The pitches in South Africa are not averse to big hitting but they ask more from a batsmen – it isn’t as easy as the sub-continental wickets to just stand and plunder. Additionally, they embellish the bowler’s arsenal, creating a more even and more honest contest between bat and ball.

This created the ideal situation for Tendulkar, Dravid and Kumble to make their mark on the game. Suddenly the ‘Icons’ from last time have really started to look like one. I am sure VVS Laxman can’t wait to get to the middle.

This also changes the outlook of the squads. With bowlers becoming more potent, sides with depth in bowling are looking better than ever. The greater challenges for batsmen would have also raised the spirits of the so called solid players – the likes of Chanderpaul in RCB and Collingwood in DD appear quite invaluable.

The other refreshing change was the capitulation of the two finalists from last time. Two well-rounded sides with brilliant leaders were humbled. It would have put to rest the fears that the gulf in quality between the high flying and low lying sides from 2008 would be widened further in 2009, leading to a slew of one-sided games. While it will be too early to throw the form guide out of the window, one can definitely look forward to a more closely fought out league this time round.

First impressions

Mumbai were one of the favourites and look very good with their impressive array of bowlers. The solidity at the top of the order will also come in handy.

Chennai’s batsmen looked very rusty and the side failed to even mount a charge towards the end. The think-tank needs to get the selection right. However, they are a loaded side and have the resources to ring in the changes.

Bangalore benefitted from two of their ‘test’ players and could play a few more. Their bowling looks better than expected with Praveen returning to his best. Playing Uthappa as keeper looks a smart gamble, opening up Boucher’s place for the likes of Ross Taylor, Kallis or Nathan Bracken.

Rajasthan were guilty of some poor shot making and could do with a little more solidity at the top. Unfortunately for them, the foreign quota is already well utilized, and one of the Indian guys (Mohd Kaif) who could have provided stability has already been sent home.

Two leggies and a googly

Leg-spinners hate to get out to another leggie. They pride themselves on being able to read the opposite numbers variations better than the best of batsmen. But, while Shane Warne has never quite managed to master the googly, Anil Kumble has. And the Indian used the perfect weapon in his armoury to inflict the worst humiliation on Warne (failing to read the googly and getting stumped) and win the leg-spinners’ bragging rights.

What makes you pine for Krish Srikkanth, Rameez Raja and Ranjit Fernando

Lalchand Rajput.

Suddenly Arun Lal is made to look like Richie Benaud. Where have all the former players gone? Rajput’s appointment as an expert is either a secret conspiracy by Lal to make himself look good or its possible he won a BCCI sponsored reality show for former cricketers.

Dude of the Day – This goes to the only player who reminded us of the big hitting of the last IPL – Abhishek Nayar of the Mumbai Indians. Can’t think of anyone else who has hit Freddie for 3 sixes in an over.

Dud of the Day – No cricketer stands out. Instead we will hand it to the guys who took an eternity trying to get the black dog off the ground.

Read all the IPL Daily Doses so far

Ready to make a move up the ranks

Team Composition

The stars of Mumbai’s foreign contingent are Sanath Jayasuriya and JP Duminy. The Sri Lankan veteran returns after an outstanding 2008 season, while the young South African is a star in the making. Other than these two, there aren’t any big guns amongst Mumbai’s foreign players. Dwayne Bravo is a more than useful all-rounder and there are a couple of decent speedsters in Dilhara Fernando and Kyle Mills. Mohd Ashraful and Graham Napier are capable of big hitting but are also highly inconsistent. Mumbai haven’t quite got the same firepower in their foreign brigade as most of the other teams. The lack of capable replacements would hurt if the first unit doesn’t click.

While their foreigners are a little lightweight, the Indians in the Indians’ side definitely pack a punch. First there is Sachin Tendulkar, still capable of winning matches on his own, and then there are two of the best bowlers in world cricket – Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. There is also Dhawal Kulkarni, who broke through in the last IPL and followed that with a superb domestic season leading to a national call-up. Shikhar Dhawan and Abhishek Nayar are their best domestic players and both played stellar roles in the 2008 edition of the league. Mumbai is the richest cricket nursery in the country and they are well capable of unearthing a few hidden talents as well. The likes of Saurabh Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane and Jaydev Shah provide some bench strength as well.

Leadership and think-tank

Sachin Tendulkar has loads of experience but is definitely not a great captain. And the same is true of his de-facto deputy, Sanath Jayasuriya. Mumbai’s failure to win the close games cost them a semi-final berth last time and they cannot afford to do the same again.

Best Playing Eleven

Tendulkar, Jayasuriya, Shikhar Dhawan/Rahane, JP Duminy, Graham Napier/ Ashraful, Abhishek Nayar/Saurabh Tiwary, Bravo/Kyle Mills/Dilhara Fernando, Takawale/Pinal Shah, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Dhawal Kulkarni/Rohan Raje

Balance of the team

Mumbai’s weakness is their batting as they have only a handful of quality batsmen in the entire squad. On the flip-side almost everyone in the side can turn their arm over and that gives their captain a never –ending list of bowling options. Not having a high calibre wicket –keeper batsman also disturbs the balance of their side.

Ideal Game Plan

In Zaheer, Harbhajan and Bravo, Mumbai have three excellent death bowlers. It is a safer bet to put your money on their bowlers to win you games at the end.

Final Verdict

Should move up a rung to make the semis this year. Once there anything can happen.

Other IPL Previews

Delhi Daredevils

Deccan Chargers

Chennai Super Kings

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The challenges of building a winning IPL side

With a strong side they can dare anyone

Team Composition

Delhi has two of the finest Twenty-20 bowlers in world cricket in McGrath and Vettori. They also have 4 international all-rounders, out of whom Maharoof made a great impression in the last IPL. The others – Collingwood, Dilshan and McDonald are quite handy and give the Delhi side a gaggle of options. And then there are two swashbuckling batsmen. In home conditions, AB de Villiers will be as good as any other batsmen in the competition. On the other hand, David Warner has made an outstanding start to his international Twenty-20 career. Arguably, the Daredevils have the best foreign lot in the tournament. They have top quality bowlers and batsmen, a wide array of all-rounders and even a top wicket-keeper batsman. That is quite a feat considering that except for Vettori, all the others were picked up for bargain rates.

The stars of the Indian contingent are Sehwag and Gambhir, who on current form are probably the best opening pair in almost all forms of cricket. They also have a quartet of fringe Indian internationals in Amit Mishra, Ashish Nehra, Manoj Tiwary and Dinesh Karthik. The first two had fine IPL seasons last year while the last two have had splendid domestic seasons with Tiwary singlehandedly leading Bengal to the national one-day final. The domestic representation is also decent with the notable names being Rajat Bhatia, Yo Mahesh, Pradeep Sangwan and Mithun Manhas. The only cause for concern is the lack of any good Indian all-rounder. But overall, the Delhi side has good bench strength and the team should benefit from a healthy competition for places.

Leadership and think-tank

Virender Sehwag has not proven to be a good captain. His risky care free approach is fine for his batting but can be detrimental for the side when applied to captaincy. Leadership is definitely not Delhi’s strongest card.

Best Playing Eleven

Sehwag, Gambhir, AB de Villiers/Warner, Tiwary, Owais Shah/Paul Collingwood/Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik/Rajat Bhatia/Manhas, Farvez Maharoof/Vettori/McDonald, Amit Mishra, Sangwan/ Yo Mahesh, Nehra, McGrath

Balance of the team

Delhi’s brittle middle order and weak cast of support bowlers was their undoing last year. The 2009 side seems to have improved on the bowling but the lower-middle order still looks shaky. They would have been much stronger if they had a good batting all-rounder from amongst the Indians. But they still have one of the strongest squads in the competition.

Ideal Game Plan

Last year they won almost every time their bowlers restricted the opposition to a manageable total. With a better bowling attack they should try more of the same this year.

Final Verdict

Could go all the way. Will surely be in the top 4 in the league stage.

Other IPL Previews

Deccan Chargers

Chennai Super Kings

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The challenges of building a winning IPL side

Nobody can stop them from coming last again

Team Composition

On paper Deccan have a trio of big hitters in Symonds, Gibbs and Gilchrist, who are capable of single-handedly winning a game. However, there are question marks over how much Gilly has left in the tank and what’s going on in Symmo’s head. They have a couple of useful West Indians (Edwards and Dwayne Smith) and three others who are past their prime (Vaas, Zoysa and Styris). At best the Chargers’ foreign contingent gives them destructive batting power and a few utility players. For a side which lost most of its domestic players to the ICL, they needed more from their foreign quota. Also their best players are all of the same type; they could have done with more variety in the skill sets of their international recruits.

Rohit Sharma, RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha are their current Indian internationals. Amongst them Rohit is the only bonafide match-winner. They also have VVS Laxman, who doesn’t do much in this form of the game and Venugopal Rao, who surprised us in the last edition with some lusty hitting. Thanks to the mass ICL exodus, their domestic contingent is the worst in the IPL. D Ravi Teja is the only serviceable player from the local lot. The end result is that there are barely enough players to put together a decent eleven, forget having a bench which creates competition for places in the playing eleven. If plan A doesn’t work they still continue with it because they don’t have the extra options to conjure a plan B

Leadership and think-tank

Adam Gilchrist has no leadership experience and Darren Lehman has no coaching credentials. That’s quite a think tank that the Chargers have.

Best Playing Eleven

Gilchrist, Laxman, Rohit, Symonds/Gibbs, Dwayne Smith/Silva/Styris, Venugopal Rao, Ravi Teja/Arjun Yadav, RP Singh, Fidel Edwards/Zoysa/Vaas, Ojha, Kalyankrishna/Sarveesh Kumar

Balance of the team

They hardly make a proper eleven. The top order is loaded but there is no middle order or lower order. Opposition sides just need to get the first 4-5 wickets to put the Chargers on the mat. The absence of any quality all-rounders adds to the imbalance. Bowling is limited with few options other than the regulars.

Ideal Game Plan

To have no expectations of winning and play with reckless abandon. This way the players will feel no pressure and probably end up playing much better than they would have done otherwise.

Final Verdict

Hot favourites for the wooden spoon once again. Don’t even have a whiff of a chance to challenge for a semi-final spot.

Other IPL Previews

Chennai Super Kings

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The challenges of building a winning IPL side

Well prepared to roar again

Team Composition

Chennai have a batting stud at the top (Hayden), three of the best all-rounders in the Twenty-20 game (Morkel, Flintoff and Oram) and two high- quality bowlers (Murali and Ntini). These six players are all match winners in their own right and make for an explosive foreign contingent. Especially crucial is the presence of the all-rounders which gives this team an amazing balance and the capability to change tactics on the fly. Chennai are also one of the few teams which can call upon almost its entire foreign brigade (except for Freddie) for the entire length of the tournament and that is a significant advantage – the team doesn’t need to change its game plan mid-tournament and it helps create a settled side. They can also call upon Michael Hussey if they make the semis.

To add to the foreigners, the team has a couple of Indian superstars in MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina. And if that was also not enough, they have a clutch of fringe internationals as well. Gony, Balaji and Badrinath impressed in the last IPL and have since been part of the Indian one-day contingent. Parthiv Patel narrowly missed the bus to New Zealand whereas Joginder Sharma has experienced Twenty-20 cricket in South Africa before.

Tamil Nadu won the national one-day tournament this year and as a result CSK has the finest lot of domestic players on board. Abhinav Mukund led the title triumph and then there is Murli Vijay who has already made the national test side. There is strength in the reserves in the form of Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Ashwin, Palani Amarnath, Sudeep Tyagi and Suresh Kumar, all of whom impressed in the last domestic season. The Super Kings are loaded across the board.

Leadership and think-tank

They are captained by one of the finest captains in world cricket today and the coach is one of the most astute cricket minds of the years gone by. The possibility of any ego clash or power struggle between the two does not exist and together they will make for a heady combination.

Best Playing Eleven

Hayden/Fleming, Parthiv/Murli Vijay/Abhinav Mukund/Vidyut, Suresh Raina, Badrinath, Dhoni, Flintoff/Oram, Morkel, Joginder/Ashwin, Balaji/Amarnath/, Gony, Ntini/Muralitharan

Balance of the team

The team has great bench strength and can play three top class allrounders (including Dhoni who can walk into most sides purely on his batting ability) in any game. This gives the side amazing balance. However, they are lacking another quality middle order batsman, especially one familiarized with the South African conditions, and a few part time bowlers. In the last edition, the side suffered some middle order collapses once Michael Hussey left and could suffer the same fate again.

Game Plan

It will depend on how well their middle order adapts to the pitches. If they can’t, batting second would be a better option. Even otherwise they had a better record batting second last time.

Final Verdict

One of the favourites to go all the way, they should easily make the semis.

Other IPL Previews

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The challenges of building a winning IPL side

Will not be rising to the challenge again

Team Composition

RCB have a decent first unit of foreign players – a match winning batsman (KP who will be replaced by Ross Taylor), a fine wicket-keeper batsman (Boucher), two outstanding bowlers (Steyn and Bracken), and a couple of up and coming all-rounders (Ryder and Van Der Merwe). The problem is that decent is not good enough for them because their Indian Internationals and domestic players are barely average. They needed more firepower from their foreign players. And their most reliable match-winner isn’t even playing half the tournament. For RCB to make an impact, they will need their entire foreign contingent to play at an exceptional level from start to finish.

Amongst the Indian lot, the best players are Praveen Kumar, Wasim Jaffer, Virat Kohli, Robin Uthappa and Anil Kumble – a pack which hardly inspires belief – none of them have been in the national one-day or Twenty-20 side for a while. Bangalore fans can’t expect many match-winning performances from them. Out of the others, Shreevats Goswami, Vinay Kumar, B Akhil, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pankaj Singh are promising but none of them had an outstanding domestic season this year. It is really a sad state of affairs that RCB has only got 10 decent players to fill 7 places in the playing eleven for the entire tournament. There is hardly any competition for places and the lack of bench strength eliminates the scope for having any flexibility in the game-plan. They better hope they don’t have any injuries as that will make it even worse for them.

Leadership and think-tank

Only Mr. Mallya knows who will be captain once KP packs his bags and leaves and that is a grim reminder of the fact that this is a rudderless boat. Also considering, how the Liquor baron treated his captain last year, few would be willing to don the mantle. The saving grace is that they have a coach who is well-versed with the conditions and quite capable of using that knowledge to his team’s advantage.

Best Playing Eleven

Ryder, Kohli, Taylor/KP,Uthappa,Van Der Merwe/Kallis ,Goswami, Boucher, Kumble, Pravin Kumar, Vinay Kumar/Pankaj Singh/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Steyn/Bracken

Balance of the team
As the possible line-up shows, the team is highly imbalanced. There are too many openers and one –down players and hardly any middle order batsmen. It is difficult to pick out the batsman who will anchor this batting line-up – it will probably be Ross Taylor or Jacques Kallis. The bowling is steady and can be counted upon to defend a good total. Wonder how many times they will be defending one.

Game Plan

Bowling is their stronger suit and their bowlers are more capable of handling pressure towards the end of the game. Can’t see them chasing well. Should try to bat first.

Final Verdict

Can’t see them bettering their performance from last time. In a best case scenario, if their foreign brigade really fires, they will end up 5th or 6th. No way do they make the semis.

Other IPL Previews

The challenges of building a winning IPL side

An entirely differnet kettle of fish

This exercise of previewing the teams will focus largely on analyzing the composition of the teams. Based on that we will try to predict which of the teams might make the semi-finals of the competition.

This analysis will have two parts. In part one; we will first look at the composition of the players category-wise. There are broadly three categories – Foreign players, Indian Internationals and finally Indian domestic and junior players. We will break down each team category-wise and see how well each category of players stacks up for a particular team.

Having done that, we will look at the overall composition of the sides – how balanced they are, their strengths and weaknesses, chemistry, leadership, form and their suitability for South African conditions.

This overall exercise will throw interesting light on which teams are best equipped, atleast on paper; to make the semi-finals of the second edition of the competition.

To understand part one, we need to first appreciate the dynamic of each category and the unique challenges they pose for the teams.

Foreign Players

The first one was the limit of 4 foreign players in the playing eleven. This was further complicated by the partial availability of various players. The good thing about this limit is that there is endless choice as highlighted by the fact that many top players missed out in the player bidding. This gives the franchisee an opportunity to pick up some bargains. But at the same time, the franchisee also needs to pick up the match-winners who come for top-dollar. And as is the case with any big investment, all possible angles need to be studied.

Angle one is that, ideally, a franchisee should try to pick up the kind of players who are in short supply in the other categories – the Indian Internationals and the domestic and junior players.

This item happens to be the genuine all-rounder. And there is another argument in favour of picking foreign players who are allrounders. This type of player happens to be the best value for money as they fulfil multiple roles. It’s almost like getting two for one. The format of the T-20 game makes even a lesser all-rounder a genuine and match-winning one– the short duration of the game and its slam bang nature doesn’t call for an all-rounder to be in the class of Botham or Imran – guys who could walk into a test side on the basis of just their batting or bowling ability. Rather it calls for the Lance Klusener variety – ones who can bowl their quota of overs regularly and make a significant contribution with the bat. And in this form of the game, scores of 25+ are also considered to be significant contributions.

It is also noteworthy that similar to one-day specialists, there also exist T-20 specialists, many of them allrounders, who fly low under the radar of the international audiences. A smart franchise could pick up a stud T-20 all-rounder, with little international experience in the other forms of the game, from one of the foreign leagues for a basement bargain price. Just like European football clubs have talent scouts in South America to pick up precocious youngsters for next to nothing; this will require a franchise to develop an international scouting network. The added advantage of such players is that they are unaffected by the international cricketing calendar and can play the full schedule of games.

Alternately, if a franchisee goes for a specialist, they should pick out a practitioner of the highest class. The only justifiable reason for picking up a lesser player is if you are getting a major bargain for a player who fills a major hole in the team.

This is similar to how successful clubs in European football filled their quota of foreign players, in the days when there was a limit on that number.

Indian Internationals

The good thing about this category is that there is no limit on the number of such players that you can have in the playing eleven. This category is also very important because the quality of these players is significantly higher than that of the domestic and junior lot and more or less at par with the foreigners. Additionally, the availability of these players for the entire tournament is guaranteed. In the case of IPL 2009, their experience of having played in overseas conditions also becomes an advantage.

The many good things about this category created a higher demand for them and consequently their prices were highly inflated as compared to the price of a foreigner of similar ability.

The challenge, thus, was two-fold. First you needed to have Indian match-winners and there was a mad rush for the few who qualified as one. Secondly, you needed to find as many fringe internationals as possible so that you could limit the number of players in the playing eleven who belonged to the third category. With budgetary constraints, it was again imperative to find the bargains.

There was also the added twist of the Icon Players. A few of the franchisees were forced to shell out an astronomical amount for players who could have been obtained for far less otherwise. The fact that some of the franchises didn’t have Icon players actually gave them a salary cap edge.

Domestic and Junior Players

This is the category of lesser players but it is important for the simple reason that the last few slots in the playing elevens, after the bidding for foreign and Indian internationals was over, were filled in by players belonging to this category. So if a team didn’t find a decent bunch from this lot to fill the last few places, they were almost playing with a reduced side – a severe handicap.

In the first edition, each franchisee was allocated a feeder zone – they had the first choice to pick players from these states. While it was a reasonable and just method, it impacted two of the franchisees dearly – Kolkata and Hyderabad, for the simple reason that most of the Ranji players from these two cricket associations had joined the ICL. Later all such restrictions were lifted, allowing for free trade to prevail.

Other than grabbing the established domestic stars, the challenge for a franchisee in this category is to scout for and unearth little known domestic players who might have the necessary skills to make an impact in the T-20 game. In India, domestic cricket is largely limited to four-day and one day cricket and therefore, it is difficult to identify players who might be mediocre in these formats but better in the Twenty-20 version. This challenge can be addressed by talent scouting through a network of domestic coaches and scouts. A good example of this was pacer Goni who was recommended to VB Chandrasekhar of Chennai by coach from Punjab.

We will now use our understanding of each category, to preview the teams by analyzing their composition category –wise. That will be followed by looking at their overall strength in terms of the regular cricketing parameters. This will be done in two posts that will follow soon.

Dear Mr Modi

This is the second time I am writing to you. The first time, I wanted to know what happened to all the money made from the IPL. You haven’t answered that one as yet. I guess you are too busy, what with the multiple positions that you hold. Well, we will come back to the IPL money and your numerous designations later. I have more important questions to ask first.

Freud would have loved to analyze his brain

Have you had a long history of suffering from temporary memory losses or from multiple personality disorder?

Or has the affliction been a recent one – starting from the time you saw your dream of starting the IPL?

Because nothing else can explain the recent remarks made by you regarding the ICL not satisfying the norms of authorized cricket

First you wear one hat of the IPL commissioner – someone who shamelessly copied the concept of the ICL and then called it his own. Someone who has seen the ICL make major inroads this year and feels threatened by its growing popularity.

And then you sit on the five-member ICC panel which decides what constitutes ‘official cricket’ and what does not. Is there a more clear case of conflict of interest? The only way you could be doing justice to both roles, is if you were suffering from one of the above mentioned ailments. You could then seamlessly shift into the ICC role without any influence or knowledge of your IPL role.

Then you have made the rather ignorant statement saying that there is no window in the international calendar to accommodate the ICL. Tell me seriously; which League has caused more problems to the International calendar, the ICL or the IPL. If there is any doubt then I suggest you check with the Srilankan and English cricket boards. Moreover, the ICL is largely made of aspiring or semi-retired cricketers who don’t have much to do with the international calendar anyways.

You have given two arguments as to why the ICL does not satisfy the norms of official or authorized cricket. Both these norms are news for me and surely a creation of your imagination. And that you have a really confused imagination owing to your multiple personalities makes matters worse

First you have said that the ICL is not built on a pyramid structure, whereas the BCCI-created IPL is built on one. What you forgot to add was that the BCCI pyramid has faults at every level – faults which are a result of a nepotistic architecture which forces a lot of deserving cricketers off the pyramid. Also that this pyramid has a defective foundation where little is spent on the lower levels and millions splurged on the topmost level. The BCCI pyramid is no good and therefore by Mr Modi’s argument, a league (the IPL) backed by a defective pyramid should also be unfit to be deemed official

And then there is your piece de resistance – calling the ICL a profit making exercise. What in god’s name is the IPL doing. And as already complained earlier, we are not even getting a whiff of where all that money is ending up. What were you trying to imply when you called the ICL a corporate effort – that its wrong to be transparent and promote meritocracy like they do in the corporate world. The EPL and the NBA, which you claim, the IPL has borrowed heavily from, are also corporate profit making efforts.

And what do you have to say about the Sanford 20-20. Is it official or not. Is it a corporate profit making exercise or not. Does it have a pyramid like structure or not.

You also mentioned something about the other, new, corporate tournaments that are coming up. What are these tournaments that you are talking about? Are they for real or just taking place in your imagination?

I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw corporate backed tournaments in your dreams, all the time

After all one corporate league has already been causing nightmares for you