Two seasoned former international cricketers and commentators of repute — former South African captain Graeme Smith and New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris — didn’t sound too happy with what they were seeing. Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul, still in his sweat-soaked jersey, stood fidgeting with his helmet strap, nervously listening to his highly-agitated team owner Sanjiv Goenka.
LSG had just suffered a 10-wicket loss to Sun Risers Hyderabad, a result that could cost them a play-off place and Goenka didn’t seem to be extending his polite commiserations to his captain, one of world cricket’s brightest stars and someone earmarked as a potential leader by BCCI.
Goenka, the billionaire chairman of RPSG Group who paid a record Rs 7,090 crores to own the IPL franchise, kept waving his hands wildly. Rahul, meanwhile, would make a feeble attempt to reply but would get cut out. He would give up, drop his head and stare at the helmet in his hands.
These were disturbing frames. Smith, on air, said that such conversations should be held behind closed doors and not a stadium with multiple cameras. Styris said Rahul had done well to keep his cool. These are not lily-livered experts, they have seen the world.
Within hours, a million fingers would type their outrage and angst on social media. Coaches ticking off the team on field of play, rivals carrying their fights beyond the boundary line — from the Little Leagues to IPL — these were within tolerable limits. But a non-cricketer owner lecturing an Indian cricketing star was a transgression worthy of a send-off.
Cricket isn’t used to such visuals. But the ongoing edition of the world’s fastest growing sports league has seen new lows. Conventions have been flouted and decorum has been ditched. Some lines have been crossed and others have blurred.
Days before Goenka got his primary-school principal behaviour to the cricket field, another high-profile owner was targeted by fans for his stadium behaviour. Delhi Capital’s co-owner Parth Jindal played the stereotypical angry Delhi fan when Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson seemed to be questioning the umpire about a contentious catch on the boundary line towards the end of a thrilling game at Kotla. Once again, it didn’t look right. DC’s social media team would later put out a video of Jindal shaking hands with Samson congratulating him on his selection for the World T20 team. The damage-control done afterwards was too little, too late.
IPL owners need to understand that they can’t undermine the stars who get fans to the stadium and give them the rare opportunity to sneak into the stadium-sized spotlight that the world has its eyes on. They own teams, not team members.
They might be the champions of industries and corporate giants but in the sporting arena, especially for the fans, they are extras with bit parts and a few lines. For years, cricketers have been the icons of this nation, they can’t be pushed around in full public view in a stadium full of their fans.
It is IPL’s obnoxious auction process that gives owners a false sense of proprietary rights over the players. For most, cricket is one of their many corporate acquisitions and part of their business diversification strategy. That’s why an IPL team gets treated as a commercial unit with cricketers as employees on their payrolls. But sports isn’t governed by rules taught at business school and it is not an investment that gives regular annual dividends. And a captain can’t be treated as some fumbling floor manager.
The IPL broadcasters too need to understand this “first rule”. In this season of infringements and infighting, they too have breached an important protocol. They too took the players-turned-commentators, many of them stalwarts of the game, for granted. Last week, Star Sports faced allegations of playing former players and a current star against each other. Ironically, this too happened live on television. Once again, it was a case of a cricketing great being sold down the river.
It all started with the commentators being critical of Virat Kohli’s low strike rate against spinners. This had perturbed Kohli who had questioned the credentials of the now retired legends of the game commenting on his game. “I am not quite sure if you’ve been in that situation yourself to sit and speak about the game from a box. I don’t really think it’s the same thing,” Kohli had said.
Kohli’s caustic comments were gold dust for Star Sports and they kept playing it on loop. They seemed to be missing the crucial point that Kohli was being critical of their own commentators. Gavaskar, not one to miss a chance, vented his angst at Stars Sports in a preview show before the Kohli game. Ironically, it was live on Star Sports: “Star Sports needs to understand they’ve shown it enough times. Everybody got the message. I’ll be very disappointed if Star Sports shows it once more. That’ll be questioning all of us commentators, not just these two (Matthew Hayden and I), those in the box, those earlier on. You’re questioning their knowledge, their expertise,” he said.
T20 cricket aspires to go global by breaking into the American pro-sports market, and has already been included in the Olympics. But with such lofty ambitions, it cannot possibly continue with these petty, amateurish antics undermining its biggest cricketers, and relaying the catfights of its flagship event around the world.
T20 has enough on-field drama, it doesn’t need storylines suited for reality TV playing on the sidelines. The popcorn is sold to spectators in the bleachers, it’s not meant to be munched on by cackling broadcasters, sabotaging their own commentators critical of a cricketing metric like strike rate.
Just 17, IPL is a juvenile teen as compared to the far more evolved and grander sporting leagues around the world where global sports stars play for far richer owners. Cricket in India can take cues from football in Europe and basketball in the US. It’s where owners respect the sanctity of the team dugout and have the patience to delay difficult conversations to a time when the cameras aren’t on them. With time, IPL will evolve but a pushback from players can send the owners back to their corner for good.
sandeep.dwivedi@expressindia.com
