Auction makes waves
Make way for the young... Exit the old?
Not quite so... If teams preferred the inexperienced yet promising Keiran Pollard over the proven match-winner in Shahid Afridi at the IPL Auctions Part III, it was definitely not because they had a long term strategy in place or any other such nonsense. Thankfully none of the 'celebrity' owners of the various IPL franchises were dumb enough to come out and say that as well because, especially with a one-year contract term, that would have been hugely embarrassing. But as Preity Zinta was sharp enough to point out, all the teams were playing on the safe side given the ever unstable state of affairs between India and Pakistan.
But was that really a smart decision? I certainly think not. Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanveer and Kamran Akmal are all hugely talented players on whom I would have loved to take a punt, be it just for this one season of competitions. Akmal and Afridi can both be destructive hitters either at the top of the order or later on, both capable of sending balls out of the park at their will. Sohail Tanveer, the leading wicket taker in the first edition of the IPL, has been an outstanding exponent of swing bowling especially under lights and his economical spells often prove the difference in high scoring T20 matches.
Money definitely wouldn't have been a problem to pocket these stars. Even someone like Abdur Razzaq would not have been a bad buy considering that players like him could change the course of a game with both bat and ball. Their knowledge of sub-continental pitch and climate conditions would also have been invaluable to all the teams. Foreign stars even of the caliber of Glenn Mcgrath have not been successful at adapting to sub-continental conditions and that makes it even more surprising that teams have chosen to bank on young and inexperienced West Indian and South African fast bowlers, rather than go for the Pak players who have grown up playing in such conditions.
IPL always throws up surprises, be it on the pitch or off it and these auctions have definitely added to the hype surrounding this edition of the tournament. Like it or hate it, one has to admit that the IPL sure knows how to make waves all the time!
The blogger is a final year Mass Communication student, Manipal Institute of Communication
Latest Comments
People of both countries, India and Pakistan, tend to forget, belong to one culture, one people, one race, one identity. For goodness sake, they were the same country not so long ago. The conflict and animosity between the two is an engineered idea of the British, which the politicians and corporates of both countries succumbed to in trying to pan to an agenda of hate. For no good reason. It would serve the interests of both India and Pakistan to rise above such trivial pettiness and show the world that the Indian subcontinent is home to a mature civilisation that won't be manipulated by the West.
The Indian Premier League shows the genius of Indian enterprise. It is one outstanding commercial success, that has humbled the self professed pundits of commercial enterprise around the world. Let it not become a platform to showcase India's dirty laundry, rather Indian magnanimity and cultural maturity. Why can't the innocent Pakistani players have a fair go, as much the as 26/11 accused Ajmal Kassab is given one? We haven't hanged him yet, have we?
ok! It is the doing of corporates, not of the indian government. I also understand that it is difficult to hire these people since they may not be available becuse of Pakistan gov antics. But isn't it wrong to form syndicate to not to buy the players?? If they have these problems then they should have simply excluded then from the auction. Why insult a nation??? yes i hate Pakistan but we should not insult anyone.
How would India have reacted if Indians players were given the same treatment in Pakistan? Many similar questions arise in the mind of Indians and one must ponder over it to find out the true reason. I however like to submit as under:
There is no question of any reaction. There are many goods which are favoured by one country but rejected by others. Buyers have the liberty to choose commodity of their own choice. Seller (players are selling their game) have got no choice and the country has got no role to play where the deal is between buyer and seller.
So far as rejection of Pakistani players is concerned, it is to be kept in mind that even players from Australia, Zimbabwe or some other countries have also not been bought by IPL participants. Pakistan is for no reason unhappy and irritated and showing unwarranted anger and crying for retort like street mongers. Still singer and musician, hockey players and other skilled persons from Pakistan are coming in India from time to time and they are extended warm welcome in India when they earn good image,.
But leaving aside the merits and demerits of buying some players and leaving others , no one bothers to point out that AUCTIONING HUMANS like cattele in a mundy or weekly Bazar is reprehensible.
Simlpy because they fetch millions of $s , humans are to be sold and bought like slave trade in USA 200 years back.Are moving forward or backword.
Gentlemen, think of humanity and dignity of humans.
There is a lot of difference between auctioning of slaves and bidding for employing a player for a team. It is like somebody trying to sell a product and somebody trying to buy the product. This has basically has been going on in the USA for many years. Just because we do not have another word, we are calling in an auction. And Pakistanis who hate India and Indians and want to destroy it, should be worried about their clearance not been picked up an auction?
It was only a year ago when IPL had refused to compromise on the schedule of the time of matches. They wanted to organise the matches in the country when the security forces were stretched for general election duties. Where was the desh prem or national pride of IPL dons that time? Did the IPL not bring bad name for the country the world over as a great power which couldn’t manage one cricket series. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi enlightened the cricket lovers with these words: “Many other players were not sold, I don’t see too much into this.” Availability is the new mantra. Moral grounds are too high grounds and could be ignored. It's not one season of cricket match that IPL destroyed, it’s the ship of basic principles of mutual respect and spirit of sports that IPL has torpedoed. Yes, Pakistan government has always failed to act reasonably and effectively in all the situation of terrorism, but extirpating the roots of basic decencies is not what was needed. If it has felt so strong on this issue, there was no need to invite or include the Pakistani players in the list of auctions. Cricket had always been the last channel of saner communication. We have never heard any Paki player talking ill about India. It had defeated the efforts of Vajpayee and every saner element looking for better relation with the neighbor. It has shattered the dream of every peace loving Indian who thinks that enmity between India and Pakistan will serve no purpose. It has fanned to flames of hatred once again between the bruised countries. What a cheap and idiotic point IPL won!
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