Dimples, Spirits and Cricket in Summer

RAJIB KUMAR

At the very outset I sincerely apologize to readers who do not give a damn about cricket or/and IPL. I hope my indulgence, two times in a row isn’t a case of OCD; infact that I have NOT been bitten even an inch by the IPL bug can be validated: though a life member of the ill-fated Cricket Association of Bengal I didn’t care to pick up a ticket for a single match; I have managed to watch just two on TV thus far, that too more under compliance of group behavior than personal choice.

So why IPL again? Well, simply because I feel that we are at the crossroads, thanks to IPL, on how sports and business are going to relate to each other in India in the years ahead- something which cannot be given a miss in a journey toward an intellectually challenging knowledge India:

a) The Vijay Mallya and Rahul Dravid tango: Welcome to the coming of the “owner” in Indian sports. Mr. Mallya’s much touted “interference” is but a natural

By product of the system. In the West, some team owners are “less interfering”, leaving the job for professional managers and there are others “more interfering” types. It is just a coincidence that good old Rahul with the public image of a quiet, quintessential guy has the high spirits of Mr. Mallya for company.
b) ICL Vs IPL: As the original cricketing cry child (long, long ago before Shreesnath and minus the slap) Mr. Dev (sometime the Harayana hurricane) has lamented that the ICL was not just better organized, the 22 yards track was not meant to be a bowler’s crematorium (unlike in its “P” version). Yet BCCI accreditation was missing; what’s more, the media too was distinctly indifferent. While Mr. Modi, the brainchild behind IPL would have us believe that all the money spinning efforts shall in essence be neutralized as everything shall swirl back for…you guessed it…for the benefit of the game while the rogue call Subhash Chandra wanted only profits for himself. We believe you.
c) Wrong headlines: Slapped Affront; Black or White; Bare or Not to Bare; Cop Under Cover… the silver lining has been the all dimples, Shah Rukh. Shah Rukh has epitomized everything about the new young India. He has never kept his emotions concealed yet he has displayed a high level of maturity of taking things in the right spirit and treating a game as just as a game despite the stakes involved. The picture of an elderly lady fixated in his bosom and generously picked up and flashed in the dailies has done a world of good as an epitome of warmth and humility. He is indeed a manifestation of everything positive of the young and empowered India- rich and wealthy; popular yet ain’t flashy; smart and witty and again compassionate and caring and managing time effortlessly at all this.

Shah Rukh Khan is the one bright spot in the IPL’s troubled life.

(Offline,Volume-5, No- 3, May 2008)