‘Influential Premier League’ – IPL scores a perfect 10
The IPL, BCCI’s ‘domestic’ tournament, pushed cricket into the modern era and made India a global leader in the game. 18 years since it started, a look at the impact it has had on cricket.
The great disruptor
IPL occupies eight weeks of the calendar (April-May) and other national leagues jostle for space rest of the year. With T20 becoming the preferred format of fans, bilateral cricket has taken a hit and Tests are in terminal decline, struggling for survival.
Controlling the cricket economy
IPL’s stunning commercial success (media rights alone are worth ₹10,000 crore annually) provides India economic muscle, which in turn brings power and control. India sits on cricket’s high table and decides where others sit. The remote that controls cricket is in India’s hands.
Players’ mindset reset
IPL is cricket on steroids, and T20 demands players bring urgency to the crease. With batters constantly in attack mode, totals routinely exceed 200. Daringly innovative shots are used freely by Gen X Rishabh Pant and senior citizen Joe Root.
Cricket’s grammar is rewritten as players practice range hitting, stay beside the ball to free the arms and hit through the line. Old methods (body behind the ball, straight bat, solid defence) are not fit for the purpose anymore. What used to be ‘last round’ batting where every ball had to be smashed, is now mainstream. IPL mandates that this is the only way to bat.
IPL batting comes to Tests
When Brendon McCullum introduced IPL’s mantra of relentless aggression to the longer format, Test cricket speeded up. With batters given freedom to swing the bat, Tests produced more results, fewer draws. The 2024 India-SA Cape Town Test lasted only 107 overs. The India-NZ Bengaluru game was bizarre – the hosts were 46 all out from 31 overs in the first innings but bounced back to hit 462 in the second, from just 99.3 overs.
Selection process turned upside down
Earlier, players had to grind their way in red-ball cricket for years to get noticed. Now, IPL is cricket’s instant scheme to book your berth in the Indian team. Franchise scouts look for fresh talent and give ones with spark a platform to perform. Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav, Varun Chakravarty and Dhruv Jurel are all examples of fast track selection while Abhimanyu Easwaran, Jalaj Saxena, Karun Nair – Ranji giants all – stand way back in the queue.
An advert for ‘Made in India’
The league initially wore a foreign look with overseas captains, coaches and support staff. Now, with better local capability and transfer of technology, the situation is different. All captains, except Pat Cummins at SRH, are Indians. Four Indians (Rahul Dravid, Ashish Nehra, Hemang Badani, Chandrakant Pandit) are head coaches and Zaheer/Sourav occupy leadership roles.
India becomes a cricket powerhouse
Rohit Sharma won the Champions Trophy without Bumrah, Pant, Jaiswal, Samson, Sundar, Kishan, Siraj and many others. The Indian team is blessed with such bench strength that chief selector Ajit Agarkar must be stressed about who to drop.
IPL’s success triggers a league mania
Encouraged by IPL, cricket leagues have sprouted in all countries. In India, state leagues have popped up everywhere, for current players and also celebrity/legends/masters/ veteran tournaments for the retired. Add to this the emergence of random downstream street/celebrity ventures. IPL has also spawned non-cricket leagues with rugby the latest start-up to launch this summer.
Internal changes – more mature
IPL is presently in a mature phase – top players continue to deliver quality cricket, amazing talent keeps coming through the system, and the fan base is expanding rapidly. Importantly, teams are profitable, IPL business is risk free, all is well and everyone is happy. Teams have moved away from frills (celebrity brand ambassadors/cheerleaders) to focus on talent scouting and creating digital content to engage with fans. Data is king and acing the social media game the next big challenge.
IPL is static, yet dynamic
IPL has a set pattern but is evolving subtly, in terms of cricket and business. One constant, however, is the craze for cricket, and the power of 18 and 45, India’s superstar cricketers. And an electrifying roar erupts every time MSD walks out to bat.
