Thoughts about IPL as the tournament has progressed from fans, critics and players

[King]

This is in contrast to Sutherland's quotes. I suppose you would rather not believe Sutherland given his knowledge.

[Guest Hiten.]

IPL is being scrutinized for unnecessary reasons. Given the time constraint IPL has managed to put on a terrific show altogether. Getting sponsors for kits to cheerleaders, they have done everything that makes T20 an attractive format of cricket. IPL is very organized league compared to the WC 07 fiasco.

[Zap_Brannigan]

It will take years to build a franchise. Every franchise is expected to lose 20 million in the 1st year. Besides, the franchise owners havent really need to find other forms to get back their return. Kingfisher can use their team to advertise their products. They need to get more into merchandising and brand name etc. But ofcourse, one of the way IPL was screwed internally was by banning media which cuts out on its popularity in India and esp in Aus and Eng. Once all the little nuances are worked out, IPL should easily turn a profit for its owners. But it will take time.

[theguyinallblue]

at least Indian TV Media has lapped up IPL as their Kids... IPL is all over News channels... be it Morning...Afternoon..or evening...even Late Night... its IPL..IPL..IPL... heck..even Zee News is having special shows devoted to IPL..:haha:

[observer1]

plain and simple jealousy. coupled with that feeling of 'those guys cannot be this good' as gandhi once said 'first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win' the ipl has now entered stage 3 of its evolution - the australian ceo is trying to fight it, stanford is trying to fight it. the english board, media and players, are, as usual, one step behind, - first they ignored it, and now the media are making jokes about it.

[Tapioca]

'first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win'

Interesting. Isn't this exactly what BCCI did and does with ICL ? For entities like Microsoft and BCCI, you should add a "then they copy you" too somewhere.

[Vignesh]

Sutherland is just trying to get some attention as the entire cricketing world is looking at nothing but IPL now and with the aussie T20 season about to start he fears for the availability of his players playing in the IPL........... Poor Sutherland.................

[umpire]

>aussie T20 season about to start Aussie season just ended yaar. they start in nov-dec. Sutherland is just talking out of ass. Most of the owners are big name and the investment they made into IPL is not huge for them.

[veer]

IPL Experience in 1st week - Sangakkara The real Super Series An exciting format, the best players, and interesting team combinations have resulted in a terrific experience for players and fans alike April 25, 2008 The first week of the IPL has been exactly what I expected it to be: absolutely exciting. What has impressed me most is the quality of cricket, which has been high and full of energy. The kind of top-quality performances Brendon McCullum, Mike Hussey, Shane Watson, Yuvraj Singh, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne have put in have been great, even in comparison with the other formats of the game. The players' interest, given the personal pride they bring to an event of this kind, has been great, and with people's interest as well, the IPL is setting benchmarks. And we will only improve from here: details will be worked out, minor glitches eliminated; teams will become better as units; and scheduling and organising will improve further. Playing in the IPL is different from playing for other non-international teams: there you choose your team based on your geographical affiliation. Here you have been bought by franchises for a certain amount. This is the first season and you have no affinity because the concept hasn't actually existed before. But as the IPL runs for a few years, that sort of affinity might come along. We have very interesting team combinations: only months ago, I was involved in tough contests with Brett Lee, and now we are strategising together. Likewise, I have to face the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, who I have faced only once before in an actual game, and Chaminda Vaas, in a charged atmosphere. Before I joined the Kings XI Punjab, I looked back at all the games I had played against the likes of Lee and Yuvraj Singh. I remembered how competitive we were when we played against each other, every little thing that was done on and off the field, the sort of competitiveness they bring. We have had our differences, but over the years those have been ironed out. You see so much of each other on and off the field that you discover different sides to people, especially off the field, which tends to build mutual respect. Tournaments of this sort feed off that mutual respect. Team building, though, can prove difficult due to the individualities that each player brings to the team. The internationals are all top players; then you have the top Ranji Trophy players and the top Under-19 players coming in; everyone brings a bit of himself to the team. How that individuality is understood by everyone else, and how they open themselves to that experience, is vital to building a team. Playing Murali was a fantastic experience. To face him again was great, especially because we get very few chances to play against each other. Trying to get on top of him, trying to work out where to score runs off him was fantastic We are fortunate that we have the players we have. They are mature, open, and flexible when it comes to ideas. They are very receptive of other people's cultures. It's a great mix to have. Everyone gets on really well, the atmosphere is real lively, and it's a great base to build a team on. On a side note, playing Murali was a fantastic experience. To face him again was great, especially because we get very few chances to play against each other. Trying to get on top of him, trying to work out where to score runs off him, was fantastic. That's the beauty of this game: pitting yourself against the best in the world and testing yourself out. In the brief contest we had, I pulled him for a four through mid-on before he got me. First blood to him; the next challenge for me is to get enough runs off him, so even if he gets me out, it will have cost him plenty. I have played in an assembled-team atmosphere before when we, as the ICC World XI, took on Australia in the Super Series in 2005. But that didn't take off at all. The series came at the back of a wonderful Ashes campaign for England, and at the end of the season for a lot of the other players who were brought in. The incentives for a combined team at that time were not great. A single team representing one country had a lot more motivation ¬- especially a team that had lost the Ashes and with it the status of being the undisputed leaders of world cricket, like Australia had. Australia had much more motivation than the World XI in the Super Series © Getty Images For a mixed team the incentives were not great, the time available for preparation was not great. The IPL, though, is different - a completely professional kind of set-up. You are bought by a franchise for your cricketing ability, huge finances are involved, you are expected to be professional and to perform as an incoming player. You also bring a lot of personal pride to this kind of tournament. And the fact that you willwould be playing for a long time with the same players for the same team instills a certain sense of belonging and team pride. On a personal level, I don't see this tournament as any different from those in any other format of the game. I have to contribute to the success of my team, add some value to the team, perform with the bat and gloves, and give it my best. It's a short game, and the impact you can have on the side is huge. One shot at a crucial time or one crucial catch could have a massive impact because the game is so short. Batting in any format is about playing smart, and so it is in Twenty20. It's not about just going out and hitting big. You have to play smart cricket, you need to know when to look for a boundary, what areas you need to hit into, and you need to rotate the strike almost every ball. As a batsman it is a great format to be in: you have a lot of freedom to express yourself, and at the same time there is responsibility in that you have got to bat for as long as possible. I like the way I have started off, but there is a lot of work to be done still. We have lost both our matches: both close games. Losses are always worrying, but it doesn't matter as long as we are doing the right things, and we have been doing the right things. We are training hard, and the guys are looking forward to winning. We have accepted that we can do better, and we're getting ready to go out and make it happen. © Cricinfo ---- Interesting read.. but will this get boring after say two or three seasons?

[arkay]

Sutherland is trying his best to downplay the success of the IPL. The IPL matches would be a full house when it is played on the fridays and weekends. On week-days, it would not be watched that much. As of now, the matches are very batsmen friendly. Would love the matches to be evenly matched. In ICL, bowlers (especially the spinners) played a very key part in restricting scores. Would love the same here. I was glad Piyush Chawla was able to do well with the ball. I would like to see the same in other games as well.

[amits]

THIS IS MURDER OF CRICKET. End the IPL immediately ! if the ipl cant be ended, ban >160 scores. for cricket to do well, there has to be a even contest between bat & ball. its not about 20/20. and i hate this 20/20 format also, in the 20/20 wc, scores like 150+ were big totals and easily proved defendable. we beat pak after making 141 & thrashed sa after making 157 & won the final against pak after making 157. also, even in icl, scores like 140+ proved defendable and a total >165 was chased only once in over 3 tournaments. out here in ipl, scores of 160-170 r being chased down easily. the lowest score to be defended here is 178 showing the extent to which bowlers have been murdered the fact that players like jaffer r hitting clean 6s tells a lot about the ipl's standard. the boundaries have been brought well in & even top-edges r going for 6s. the bowlers have been murdered in order to provide a joke of a tournament with farcical 4s & 6s being hit its time the icc stepped in & banned 20/20 cricket immediately & brought back the odis. earlier, hitting a 6 used to be a big thing for a batsman, now they have become as common as hitting 4s. even scoring 80+ in last 10 overs of odis was considered great achievement, here even 160(twice of 80 in 10 overs) is considered bad which is just murder of cricket whereas even in 20/20 wc, scores of 150 were considered good totals the organisers should know that the most exciting 20/20 matches have been those ones with <150 scores & thats what should be looked to be provided in ipl. in ipl, the pitch standards have been very poor & players like jaffer hitting clean 6s just shows the quality of cricket in ipl

[fineleg]

ipl == circus everyone knows this

[OriginalCopy]

Stop watching if you don't like murder mysteries!

[veer]

:cantstop::cantstop: ok I will let them know..

[Zakhmi]

yes, thats right...IPL has committed biggest sin by auctioning the players.

[satishg]

hehe then dont support delhi amit if u dont like IPL and looks like someone is chickening out jus before the devils are getting ready to be slayed by the kings :P..ipl == entertainment nothing more than that..and a place to find young talent also..

[Desi Cartman]

I agree that the boundaries are too short ... but the number of boundaries being hit has more to do with the quality of the batsmen in IPL. Shorter version of the game gives these world class batsmen an opportunity to slog! I also wonder what is next, 5-5 ? ... I also believe that they are playing way too many matches in IPL but I cant complain since Delhi is winning :yay:

[Rohan495]

nope dont end IPL, its only good for the globilization of the game. Through IPL cricket will reach new heights. Let 50 over cricket remain and let test remain use IPL as a way to bridge other countries into cricket.

[nospam]

THIS IS MURDER OF ICF. BAN AMITS immediately! jk

[Chandan]

Interesting thoughts about IPL after 2 weeks since its beginning May 1, 2008 Posted by Ashok Malik 19 hours, 12 minutes ago in IPL EyePL: The story so far For what it’s worth, here’re my thoughts on the Indian Premier League. The format: It’s exciting but repetitive, and after the first two or three games the cheerleaders became a distraction, even a chore, getting in the way of the game. To be fair, these are points others have made as well and I can only nod in agreement. Perhaps more judicious use of Indian music and cultural products would make more sense to Indian crowds over the longer term. Somebody in Mumbai has suggested a bhangra troupe; film songs specific to players or descriptive of the situation (a six or a dismissal, as the case may be) could be other, equally corny ideas. In the vintage years of Test cricket, boundaries were occasional. One-day cricket (F50 if you prefer) made fours and sixes common. T20 threatens to make them commonplace. If a six is hit every other over it is going to cease to be exciting. T20/IPL will need to devise new benchmarks. Perhaps vertical targets will be set: “Hit the red line near the clubhouse balcony and score eight; hit that black line on the floodlight tower and score a 12.†Agreed, both those sound ridiculous, but so much about T20 is out of the ordinary and the conventional that it will soon have separate rules and scoring patterns being institutionalised for it. You can’t play it as if it were a compressed version of an ODI or a Test; it’s not. You don’t write text messages in accordance with Wren and Martin rules of grammar, do you? The teams: After the player auction, I remember telling a friend that Mumbai and Jaipur were the weakest teams. Mumbai was a “Dad’s Armyâ€, and Jaipur seemed to have lost the plot. Shane Warne has proved me spectacularly wrong by inspiring and leading the Jaipur team into close to the top of the table, at this juncture. Even so, I’m still betting on Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata making the semi-finals. Jaipur and Mohali are my current favourites for the fourth slot. Nevertheless, given that one top-order innings can decide the match (McCullum, Sehwag, Hayden and Gilchrist have all provided examples), any prediction is the equivalent of planning a leisurely stroll on a minefield. That aside, the departure of Hayden, Hussey and Oram is going to have other teams fancying their chances against Chennai. One question that was raised before the IPL was how the old guard would take to the newest format. Dravid and Laxman have looked completely out of sorts, and need not be first XI sure-shots in IPL 2009. Given his ODI history, Ganguly was expected to relish T20 but even he’s disappointmed. Tendulkar’s been kept away by injury, of course; but the larger message is obvious: the IPL has played out generational change before Indian crowds. To go back to the mobile phone metaphor, epic novelists cannot, should not be asked to write text messages. In a perfect world, they should fade away with memories of their skills intact. One classicist who’s shone in the IPL, however, is Glen McGrath, who gave up playing for Australia a year ago. He’s been the bowler of the tournament so far and still looks good for another two years of international cricket. His spell against Bangalore on Wednesday (April 30) night was exceptional by any standards – Test, ODI, whatever. It takes rare courage to quit sport – or anything – when your powers are still with you. McGrath is in that league; he’s done IPL an honour by signing up for it. The brands: One of the challenges for the eight franchises is to build loyalty to the club, beyond loyalty to an individual player. Those who were Manchester United fans in Bryan Robson’s time, remained United followers in Cantona’s era and are gladly cheering Rooney today. That template is the IPL franchisee’s dream. It’s unfair to be asking this question in year one, month one, but how have the IPL teams fared in terms of building brand loyalty? There is, of course, a degree of local following – Delhiites back the Delhi Daredevils, Mumbaikars want the Mumbai Indians to win. The real test is how much support a team has garnered outside its base station. Here, individuals are proving magnets rather than corporate or collective identities. Dhoni’s fans are rooting for Chennai, Sehwag’s adherents for Delhi and so on. Among the owners, Reliance/Mukesh Ambani and Kingfisher-UB/Vijay Mallya could have made a cross-country impact but have been let down by underperforming teams. To my mind, the biggest success has been Kolkata’s. Knight Riders is seen as Shah Rukh Khan’s team rather than Saurav Ganguly’s. The Shah Rukh tag has brought in incremental sponsorship and following. It’s a wise move. Saurav will be gone in two years or so, Shah Rukh will still be around, and still be iconic. To have a non-player who won’t retire as your “key man†makes good business sense. ------------------------------------------------------------- Interesting thoughts! Since, Sangakkara gave his views on IPL as a player and Amits as a fan what are your views about the tournament so far? To me the lack of close matches is a big disappointment, the smaller boundaries (you can hit a six even if you send the ball sailing for just 65 meters) have taken the pleasure away from sixes and the failure of class batsmen like Laxman, Dravid, Ponting, Ganguly etc are biggest disappointment. The delight so far has been in watching the young and talented unknown local players, the wonderful captaincy of Shane Warne and "Lagaan" like success story of the Jaipur team. Please give your views!