Indian
Regional League
Even when the present IPL is going
on, as Australians talk about ashes a year before it actually happens I am
thinking about the next IPL. I would go a step further and say probably a
better IPL. The word better above might have many meanings including finance,
global appeal, sporting matches or having a better brand value. In order to
achieve whatever better, there has to be certain tweaks in the event like Ravi
Shastri’s “They have to do something different. Tweak the batting order a bit”
phrase.
For IPL to stand as a brand and get
similar treatment as other sporting leagues, the association and loyalties of
the fans is of utmost importance. From this point of view, IPL has done nothing
except creating nine teams across different cities. The compulsory number of players from
catchment area rule is something which doesn’t impact the results as of now. To
compare it with other leagues around the world is a far shot. Primarily because
when the other leagues started, they surely had at least ten players who were
born in the area. That is how loyalties are built. You ask a Bayern fan or a
Manchester fan, they will say they followed these teams from the time they were
a kid. That fascination towards a particular club came from their parents who
might have been around when the club started with eleven individuals from their
place with whom they relate to. One suggestion in this direction is to go ahead
with minimum four local catchment area players in the playing XI. It gives fans
of the franchises to relate more. Old, Women and Kids have new rising starts to
look at from their area. (In hindsight, happy to see Vihari and Reddy brothers
doing well for Sunrisers Hyderbad. Me from the land of Andhrapradesh).
The other aspect is the IPL TV
coverage which was discussed more on the commentary point of view in the huddle
recently. As they debated and found a conclusion on different options in
commentary, the coverage panel looks very monotonous. Whenever there is say match
in Hyderabad, I would love to have the coverage oriented over history of
Hyderabad, the cricket , young players to watch out for. Have someone who
follows these state associations closely; get some insights into the
functioning and the players with snippets of interviews from the cricketers
close to these young players. I am glad that Raipur game has at least a snippet
of that.
Finally, the DJ who mixes music in
the setmax studios has to look at regional film music. For a state that boasts
of movie buffs with the highest appetite, half of the state’s population will
surely tune in for just the sound of their movies and improve the TV ratings to
a great extent. These are minor tweaks which might build a fan base equivalent
to the whole state and also the hype reaches to elders and women. I need not
comment on the benefit it brings to the game involving local cricketers.
No comments:
Post a Comment