Kolkata Knights for the glory
Will IPL 6 come out with all guns blazing or will it be all shelled out?
The making of every good story has a basic premise – the underdog overcomes obstacles and shines as the Gods smile upon him. The fifth edition of the Indian Premier League had all the elements of a stellar event albeit a few misses. Despite the positively embarrassing turnout when May hit its peak, the regular bout of truth purging from match fixing by youngsters and rave parties gone broadcast, the Premier League couldn’t have had a better, deserved end. The bright young sportsmen in their purple and gold colors, who yielded the turn of the holy grail towards the east and disbanded the cushy Chennai Kings, gave Indian cricket fans what they really wanted; edge-of-the-seat cricket and the hope of a less predictable IPL 6.
Gambhir’s boys comprehensively defeated Dhoni’s seasoned hard hitters; it made Kolkata stand up in pride and kept Sharukh Khan in the position he is most comfortable in, as the kingpin. Having said that, does KKR’s win guarantee a full house come next April? Certainly, there is much to be deliberated about.
A school of thought persists with the idea that the BCCI intended the IPL to function along the lines of the English Premier League. But unlike the stronghold of English football, has the IPL proven to be as popular after the novelty of the first season wore off? The answer in its entirety is rather manifold. Firstly, the over-commercialization of the IPL franchise has dimmed in the audiences’ mind of what it was originally intended to be. The Lalit Modi fiasco, scandals of debauchery involving the IPL big wigs and hard-selling Bollywood stars diluted the core essence of the gentlemen’s game. The viewer was now only looking for the next pin to drop. The IPL, roughly built around the English League, took a cop-out – an express two month long tournament as opposed to the route its counterpart takes, a full-fledged annual football indulgence. As a non-viewer or a person who does not owe any allegiance to the mother regions of the clubs, two months just isn’t enough time to garner an educated interest towards the game.
The success of individual clubs in the IPL over the past five years has been astounding. Kolkata Knight Riders achieved a profit of $2.59 million in the first leg of the IPL and has been growing ever since. Today, its net worth stands at $46 million, easily one of the most successful franchises in the IPL. A natural progression to this statistic would be to attach the weight of Sharukh Khan to validate the commercial drawings. And eventually, not much attention has been paid to the quality of cricket being paid by the club; instead the media hounds the owner for a precious cover story. Well, up until now at least. With Gautam Gambhir taking over the helm at KKR, cricket has been the focal point for all noteworthy discussions across forums. Shakib Al Hasan, the man touted to be the world’s new ace, paceman Brett Lee and hard hitter Jacques Kallis showed some much needed talent to the team that was down and out after the 2011 loss to Mumbai Indians and the ‘No Dada, No KKR’ campaign. Manvinder Bisla and Debabrata Das hit it out of the park while Sunil Narine was right on target, peaking at the right moments during the tournament.
Kolkata’s five wicket victory is not just a testament to the success of the team’s overhaul but also serves as a foundation for what the IPL needs to achieve; a tournament for Cricket and not an excuse for gully brawls. Coming back to whether KKR’s victory guarantees a successful IPL 6, it’s certainly too early for one to tell. What can be said for a fact though is that the Kolkata Knight Riders rose above expectations, and their performances against the Delhi Daredevils and the Royal Challengers made the viewers get a sense of their grit after seasons of despondency. The final clinch against Chennai Super Kings made all their supporters bring out their moth-worn jerseys. The success of the next IPL is a gamble, a study of rating points and total time spent viewing; the stands may not be full come April but there is no denying that the KKR win infused hope into cricket lovers across the country and in a country like ours, the story of underdogs definitely sells tickets.
[Contributed by a cricket novice, this article does not intend to offend]