United by “Cricket”; Divided by “IPL” …?

In a country which calls cricket as their religion & Sachin as their God, there’s absolutely no denying that for years in counting, Cricket has always been one such thing, which has united one-and-all in this diverse nation. We always like to unite with our friends, colleagues, family & even the unknown folks at the stadium or at the sports bar to cheer along with the same heart every single time, the mighty men in blues take on the cricket field. Such is the passion of the game that we call it a “Religion” and this “Religion” unites us all. 

Year 2008, 18^th April the “Indian Premier League” came into existence with a bang and changed the way cricket was played across the world. It marked a new beginning for cricket to venture into franchise cricket, which gave amazing opportunities to the local talent, whereas, it showered the never seen before money on cricketers across all nations, which wooed the who’s who of the cricketing fraternity. The players, match officials, ex-cricketers as analysts, commentators, this cash rich league benefitted one and all. But... What about the spectators? What’s in there for them? 

Well, the answer is pretty simple. Entertainment and Experience which is abundant enough to drive this cricket frenzy nation into madness. Entertainment is not to be searched for, when you have star-studded franchises battling hard for the coveted trophy. Telecast across little less than 200 countries, IPL has a wide reach, stars from almost all top cricket playing nations, T20 - the shortest format of cricket occupying lesser time unlike the 50-over format, the cheerful cheerleader as eye candy, and last but not the least, the presence of Bollywood stars. IPL is a near-perfect recipe of an average Indian would seek.  Experience of watching these games in a stadium, watching the players you adore right up from a close distance is an astonishing factor for any cricket fan. Such is the rage of this league that almost every other game is witnessed by near-packed stadiums where the ticket bookings are done weeks before the event. But, somewhere down the line, the thought erupts in our minds, “Is IPL dividing us?”  

“Delhi Kabhi, Toh Chennai Kabhi… Par Pepsi, Oh Yes Abhi!” -  Does that ring a bell? 

Oh Yes! That’s what the marketers have been up to. Trying hard to come up with ‘one-liners’, ‘tvcs’, ‘print media’, and anything and everything that manages to influence the psychology of cricket fans to start dividing themselves, so a strong fan-base can be created for the respective franchises. To some extent, they’ve managed to do it successfully. 

The recent booing of Virat Kohli at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai is just a glimpse of what lies ahead in the years to come. Where some International rivalries like “Bhajji-Symonds”, “Bhajji-Ponting” are buried, many new rivalries among the local players seem to be on rise. The “slap-gate” is still very fresh in our mind, whereas, the recent “Kohli-Gambhir” spat has fueled the arguments over IPL dividing the fans. What went behind that spat remains best known to the players, but for us, the fans, this certainly doesn’t give a good feeling. But, that’s what has been the aim of the marketers. Is the plan any good? 

When it comes to my understanding of marketing, and from what I have been reading recently, I am pretty sure that the marketers have got it wrong. Their sponsors might be gaining unbelievable heights with their campaigns, but, is that benefiting the IPL?

Well, it's certain that the marketing of IPL is being postitioned as Club vs Club quite similar to BPL (Barclays  Premier League) & the main objective seems to be creating a bigger fan-base for the franchises. But, as it had rightly mentioned in one of the articles that I had read at espncricinfo.com that such kind of pitching has certainly not gone down too well with the cricket fans. Reason is simple, "We wear our blues for near 10 months in year and get together to cheer for Team India. Suddenly, we are asked to choose one of the local teams, instead of choosing our stars together. This creates a dilemma in the fans mind, for e.g. Sitting inside Eden Gardens, you cheer for KKR and not Dhoni, because now, Dhoni plays for your rival franchise. Yes, when it comes to a legend like Sachin, the dilemma stays at bay, as one and all irrespective of their franchises get together and create the loudest & most loved cheer, "Saaacchhin Sacccchiiin". But certainly, asking fans to change their loyalty for 2 months is not an easy ask. The BPL goes on for a major part of the year, whereas, the International matches are very few. Hence, the same strategy cannot be applied when it comes to IPL. And the results are quite evident, we are seeing lesser crowds turning out at most of the stadiums. So, how could the positioning been better?

One of the better ways to position the league would have been to promote it by using the fan-base for the individuals, rather than a team. An IPL match in Pune against Mumbai draws more spectators because of Sachin Tendulkar, rather than the home team, which is a big blow to the strategists. Our loyalties still lie with the Sachins, Dhonis, etc. Therefore, asking a fan to visit the stadium to see their favorite stars, rather than coming to cheer for the local teams would make more sense and create a better connect among them. We still very much love Indian cricket above club cricket, and it appears like it would remain the same for many more years. Therefore, marketers need to accept the fact that IPL can survive on its own without tampering the fan loyalties of cricket maniacs in this country. So, finally, are we divided by IPL?

Well, i will leave it upto you all to make your own opinions on this. My answer would be, "After being to the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium last night for PWI vs CSK game & having witnessed few fans getting into a physical tussle, I can say, yes to a certain extent, IPL has created the hatred amongst some of the fans, but majority of us still hold strong and cheer for the ones we love. For us, IPL brings just another wonderful opportunity to see our favorite stars in action".

* Introduction of IPL & history
* Advertising, Sponsorship, Marketing Strategies & Rise of Social Media
* Format - need of reducing the matches
* Social Responsibilities
* Foreign Captains A Liability?
* Rise & Fall of local talent
* Connect with local fans
*  Long-term sustainability

Faltering Even Before Beginning ...

How long can you go, when you keep 'Faltering Even Before Beginning'...?

Well, that's the question which has been cropping up my mind since a long time now. But, from the time Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from ODIs in an bizarre manner, things look even more obscure. Lets have a look at few statistics before we dig deeper in the issues...

Pakistan in India ODI Series

• 1st ODI : 1-17 (Sehwag), 2-17 (Gambhir)
• 2nd ODI : 1-42 (Gambhir), 3-59 (Sehwag)
• 3rd ODI : 1-19 (Rahane), 2-29 (Gambhir)

England in India ODI Series

• 1st ODI : 1-96 (Rahane), 2-102 (Gambhir)
• 2nd ODI : 1-18 (Gambhir), 2-18 (Rahane)
• 3rd ODI : 1-11 (Rahane), 2-78 (Gambhir)

The above statistics indicate how tentative our opening stands have been. Whether it be Sehwag & Gambhir or Gambhir & Rahane, they have been quite inconsistent. Lets not be too judgmental about Rahane yet, as the young lad is still quite new to the arena, but Gambhir & Sehwag have continuously failed to deliver. Be it in the test matches or in ODIs, they've just failed to deliver. So, how much has this affected our Team's performance?

In two words, "A lot". Yes, a team which has been banking quite heavily on it's batting arsenal has been put into a catch 22 quite often. Ironically, the openers have been consistently inconsistent and the middle order has been put under extreme pressure situations, game after game.

Lets look at how our openers have fared in last 8 Test matches. (4 home & 4 away)

Last 8 Test Matches: 

England in India Test Series

1st Test : 1-134 (Gambhir), 2-224 (Sehwag) / 1-57 (Sehwag) (Gambhir did not bat in the 2nd innings)

2nd Test : 1-4 (Gambhir), 2-52 (Sehwag) / 1-30 (Sehwag), 10-142 (Gambhir)

3rd Test : 1-47 (Sehwag), 3-117 (Gambhir) / 1-86 (Sehwag), 3-103 (Gambhir)

4th Test : 1-1 (Sehwag), 4-71 (Gambhir) / Did not bat in the 2nd innings

India in Australia Test Series

1st Test : 1-22 (Sehwag), 2-97 (Gambhir) / 1-17 (Sehwag), 2-39 (Gambhir)

2nd Test : 1-0 (Gambhir), 3-55 (Sehwag) / 1-18 (Sehwag), 3-168 (Gambhir)

3rd Test : 1-4 (Sehwag), 4-63 (Gambhir) / 1-24 (Gambhir), 2-25 (Sehwag)

4th Test : 1-26 (Sehwag), 4-87 (Gambhir) / 1-14 (Gambhir), 2-80 (Sehwag)

The above statistics talk about two things, i) The openers have hardly managed to give the team a solid platform & ii) Neither of those openers have managed to bat long enough. Therefore, the failure isn't limited to their partnerships, but also accounts as an individual failure. This ain't no rocket-science. Every cricket fanatic in this country would give you a piece of advice on this. But, are our selectors made of some different soil..?

Things are pretty clear, 'Our team ain't doing any good since we lifted that WC in '11. Kohli has been the promising young go-getter, but off late he's been going through a not-so-fruitful patch.Gambhir, not performing. Sehwag, failing time and again. MSD, been doing good in ODIs, but miserable in Test Matches. Raina, Yuvraj have not been so impressive as well. Jadeja is something, nobody has understood yet, so is the case of Rohit Sharma. Rahane & Manoj Tiwary have not got enough chances. Sachin Tendulkar, well, what wrong did this poor guy did to go through such an unfair treatment. His last 2 ODIs have yielded 166 runs, with one century & a half-century. He has been one of the most fittest, passionate & prolific cricketer the game has ever seen. So why the hell could someone think of pushing him for retirement? What possible reasons?

1) "On the basis of *Form*?" - If so, then at least half-a-dozen deserve to hang-up their boots.

2) "On the basis of *Giving chance to youngster*?" - Which youngster?

3) "On the basis of *WC preparations*?" - Really?

4) "On the basis of *Age*?" - How does it really matter, if he is still fitter than many of the players we have?

The man we miss watching in the blues.

I simply fail to understand the logic of Indian Selectors & the case of Sachin's retirement. At a time when we are struggling, our openers are not delivering, we needed someone of the caliber of Sachin Tendulkar to stand up and show us the way, rather than pushing him to the wall. This was the time to stand united & back our team. We required logical decisions, rather than getting bullied by the pressure put by media or some of the ex-cricketers.

On one end, we drop Sehwag & on other end, we keep playing Gambhir, Sharma. Every decision from the selection committee is bewildering each of us. We need to find a solid opening batting pair now. If the current ones are failing to accumulate runs of flats decks under home conditions, then what should be expected from them on seaming wickets outside the sub-continent. Even the thought scares me. This Indian cricket team needs a long-term solution, not a quick-fix. And the work should begin, right away.

Currently positioned at No.1 in ODIs, we have two simple choices, either we enjoy our short-term numero uno status or we just get into the roots of the problems, and work towards a team which plays like number one. I can continue dwelling upon many more issues, maybe, some other day.

Hoping & wishing the very best to our Indian Cricket Team.