Well, the second season of IPL is upon us once again and boy, has it lived up to its reputation of creating off-field drama. In 2008 a huge amount of media space was given to it even before it began, what with players feeling like cows to be slaughtered and unfathomable amounts of money being thrown at players and Bollywood stars tumbling over one another in a bid to cash in on the event first.
The second season has proven to be even more dramatic till now. With the general elections on this year, the IPL working committee went ahead and announced the schedule before the Election Commission decided on the polling schedule. The states in which the IPL were to be held went into a frenzy demanding central paramilitary forces to conduct IPL matches, a request which the Centre flatly declined. Lalit Modi, the brains behind the blockbuster had to work out 42 alternate schedules to ensure that IPL matches did not clash with elections in a particular state, but it was of no use. The states almost agreed to the third reworked schedule but after the Maharashtrian and Andhra Pradesh pulled out after agreeing just a day earlier, it was the last straw. The Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram, had also recently said in an interview that the IPL must take into account elections in a neighbouring state. This was a veiled notuce to the IPL that they will be better off if the IPL was not held.
But our man, Lalit Modi, had promised to hold the tourney and so something that was unthinkable just a few days ago had to be done. The IPL was shifted out of India to South Africa.
Now this has evoked strong reactions from the Indian public. Some saw it as an inevitable step, while others cannot get adjusted to the fact that the Indian Premier League is being played in South Africa. Another fact that almost everyone, including our media, has overlooked is that the General elections are also being held in South Africa this year, in April.
So the thing to consider now is will IPL be as big a hit in South Africa as it was last year. The economics of the show are the paramount factor as after all the IPL is a pure business venture. Will the games, suited to Indian TV audience timings, and hence to be held in the afternoon in South Africa, play to full houses? Will the cold weather in South Africa be suitable for cricket? On the other hand, holding the tournament in India at the time of an election would have been very risky without adequate security. Preliminary reactions have been encouraging with the South African public showing quite an interest in the tournament.
Preparations have already begun and teams have chosen their base cities. Teams will start moving to the Rainbow Nation in a few days time. It will be up to them to make this tournament "Bigger and Better" as promised by Lalit Modi. We are waiting.
