Mukul Kesavan, son of the first national librarian of independent India, the Mysore-born B.S. Kesavan, in The Telegraph:
“The English Premier League’s audience has been built over a century of league football; it’ll be very hard for the Indian Premier League to instantly produce the traditional partisanship, the long-brewed loyalty that sustains club football.
“Secondly, English and European club football is played in the traditional, ninety-minute format that has always defined the game, whereas IPL has invested massive sums of money in an abbreviated, untried version of the game with no history, no undergirding loyalties and a very narrow geographical base.
“Thirdly, where the EPL sells football, the IPL has made the fatal mistake of selling razzmatazz. Over time, this will trivialize the league because the glitz will make it hard for its potential fan base to take the matches seriously. Loyalty, in the end, is a serious business.
“Finally, the IPL will fail (pray god) because any form of cricketing theatre in which bowlers are cast as extras, can’t possibly create the tension essential for great drama.”
Read the full article: Cricket as spectacle
Also read: Five things I like (and don’t) about the IPL (so far)
I am joining the prayers Mukul Kesavan..
Mukul has hit the nail on the head. This is going to be just a passing fad.
Your right Mukul..
We can’t make an instant loyalty towards these new clubs. And will never be able to compare this with the generations of fan following towards the English football clubs.
More over the showbiz has done the harm already by moving it from serious spectators.
IPL is about cricket ? This is what Pakistan Captain Shaib Malik had to say:
” People there have lapped it up like movies. It’s like enjoying a cinema with popcorn. The three-hour duration (of the matches) also helped to create the craze,”
http://ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/$All/B4C46305CCCDD2C4652574350030369F?OpenDocument
Its interesting how the perception of IPL has changed in this very blog. After retards like Aravind Swaminathan compared IPL to prostitution and their ilk, this same blog entertains a post where the post makes strong case for supporting IPL.
I dont know what this blog is trying to do, but consistency is certainly lost here.
Sumneneeve,
Think churumuri as a blog that entertains all views and allows us to comment on it. It is more of a debating forum than a blog.
Sad part is glitz, razzmatazz, bad movies are dismissed as such. IPL is being analysed so much, too much. Nothing inferior deserves so much time and energy. Maybe fashion, movie and page three types should be sent to cover IPL, then it will get the coverage it deserves. These writers can be very sharp and short! Not just fluffy and flowery. Cricket buffs and sports journos and analysts –poor things– are going through a punishing and gruelling exercise by examining this falling star as if it were the end of Earth.
Perhaps all this will one day reach its natural or logical end (as seen by the though leaders of newspapers) when the owners of teams go in as guest editors for a day and give a report –with signature attached. Own it, organise it, report it.
I think the author seriously considers himself to be true blood authority of British football!He still seems to be awe of British imperialism including the unpredictable,royal but dull Prince Philip.People are waiting for IPL to fail so they can claim.’I told you so!’ If Australia or Lords had started this, most of such writers would be frothing in their mouths praising skyhigh saying oo La la!!
Err,
You spoke my words. Why is it that we leave no stoned unturned in berating something started in India. Every tom, no-dick and harry should have his opinion on why something has to fail because its Indian. As you say, if this was started by Ozzie or the pommies, everyone would be talking as if they missed an opportunity. Cheers for BCCI. Go BCCI.
“He still seems to be awe of British imperialism including the unpredictable,royal but dull Prince Philip.People are waiting for IPL to fail so they can claim.’I told you so!’
This is a throwaway remark. There is truth in what Kesavan says. The premier league football has a history of over 100 years. More importantly it was developed bottom up anchoring the support of ordinary fans-the grassroot support. The IPL on the otherhand is set up top down and is driven top down. The character of the game has not changed in the premiership football but IPL is a different story. We are still talking about imperialism nonsense even after 60 years of independence and in these days of globalisation. Lastly, the Royals in Britain do not control premiership, if anything football is considered as a game for masses-the working class.
librarian belongs to library not cricket field.