IPL Ruining Cricket Stars

Indian Premier League destroying International Cricket Money, fame, and power are the liberties that cricket players have nowadays. In India where cricket is consider a religion and cricket players are considered Gods. Mohammed Azharuddin was the captain of Indian cricket team in 1985 and he is now an Indian politician. He is the member of the Indian National Congress, which is the major political party in India. He is also the member of parliament of house in India. In India cricket was first played in 1932, but it wasn't until 1983 when cricket drew approximately million fans.India won its first World Cup in 1983, beating West Indies, a team who was considered favorites to win the tournament. India's proudest captain Kapil Dev lifted the World Cup trophy for the first time in front of thousands of people at one of the historic Cricket ground at Lords in England. This was Just the beginning of new cricket era in India. After almost two decades, Indian cricket was in threat of losing its fame due to few players and the captain itself was involved in match-fixing.This made entire nation angry and it drew fewer crowds, however when â€Å"Saurav Ganguly took the captaincy for the team in 2000 he changed the face of Cricket in India† (Empire of Cricket-India). He made everyone believe that no one should take Indian team lightly in international cricket; soon cricket began to take its peak by producing some of the finest players for India such as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. When India won its first inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, it created a new taste in Indian Cricket.People began to like twenty20 cricket, because it was quick and results were faster. The BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India) created IPL known as Indian Premier League, but they ignored the fact that by oing so they are destroying the international cricket. Lots of cricket is being played around the world such as test, one-day, twenty20, and domestic cricket. Cricket matches is affecting players' performances and encouraging them to retire from one or more format of the game due to their tight schedule.Indian Premier League is consider as one of the prestigious domestic league in cricket and it attracts players from international cricket by offering mouthwatering salary of million dollars to the players to play in their league. India stuns the world in 1983 by winning the World Cup. No one had expected or even dreamed about India qualifying for finals and that too facing West Indies who won consecutive World Cup in 1975 and 1979. When India qualified for the semi-final many people were satisfy by India's performance, but India wasn't so they went onto the final by beating England.During early 1970's and 1980's West Indies was the toughest opponent to face and most batsman from other country feared to face West Indies bowlers. â€Å"West Indies possessed the most fearsome bowling attack and possibly the most brutal batting line-up that anybody h ad ever witnessed† (Abbasi 1). Facing West Indies was the nightmare for any team in early 1970's and 1980's. There was a big hand of Kapil Dev in India's win over West Indies in World Cup. Kapil Dev became hero in minutes after taking a stunning match winning catch of Viv Richards, the catch gave â€Å"India belief.And West Indies panicked† (Bal 1). Viv Richards was the only player who would have help West Indies to make it hat-trick tor the number ot wins in World Cup. W n him gone West Indies dream faded away to put their hands on third World Cup title. â€Å"In hindsight it can also be said that the catch changed the way cricket would be played, for it awoke India to the possibilities to win the World Cup† (Bal 1). The catch from Kapil Dev brought India closer to the victory and with that 1983 World Cup belongs to India. It all came out in 1999 when cricket in India was in threat.India went through dark days in 1999 and it wasn't the great year for the cricket players and especially for the cricket fans. Leading cricketers were accused of match-fixing and then a police report proved that there was a direct link between cricketers and illegal book makers. Former Indian Cricketer Bishan Bedi once said, â€Å"Sickening absolutely sickening and hen some of the players were found to be indulging in that kind of nonsense, cricket died for many days† (Empire of Cricket-India). People lost faith in everything they had seen and they no longer trusted the results.India's cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin was involved in match-fixing with many other players such as Ajay Sharma, Ajay JadeJa, Manoj Prabhakar, and Dr. Ali Iran', a physiotherapist. â€Å"The Indian government orders the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the match-fixing allegations and to find out whether any Indian cricketer or official was involved† (Ravindran 2). This event was eye opening for many fans and the government itself felt that they need to take act ion to provide Justice for the millions of cricket fans in India.When CBI released the report on match-fixing in November it accused those players of having links with bookies and of under-performing in return for huge sums of money. â€Å"Manoj Prabhakar told CBI that he was offered 2. 5 million rupees ($53,000) by a teammate to underperform in a match against Pakistan in 1994† (Magazine 2). â€Å"Titan Cup in 1996 between India and South Africa was fixed, Pepsi Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in 1997 was fixed, and Pepsi Cup between India and Pakistan in 1999 was also fixed† (Ganapathy 1). Mohammed Azharuddin and Alay Sharma were involved in the following fixed matches.Based on the evidence each time the match was fixed players received from â€Å"$19,000 to $400,000†³ (Ganapathy 1). People were in shock for years when they realized their cricket God cheated on them. These led to a public outcry demanding punishment for the players. Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay JadeJa we re banned from the cricket for life time and few players took retirement from cricket due to their shameful act. To take Indian cricket out of darkness and into the light India needed a new leader. Saurav Ganguly known as Bengal Tiger of Kolkata was named captain of the Indian cricket team in 2000. Now, under Saurav Ganguly, Indians always such bad travelers, had begun to win abroad† (Bose 242). He made every Indians proud and made cricket more loveable. He began well as a captain leading India to the final of ICC Knockout Trophy in 2000 and ICC Cricket World Cup in 2003. Unfortunately India lost both these finals; one against New Zealand in 2000 and Australia in 2003. When India toured England during the summer of 2002 there were big expectations on the shoulder of the young kipper with India not able to secure a series win in England since 1990.During the final match of the 2002 Natwest Trophy between India and England held in Lords, Ganguly took off his shirt in public and brandished it in the air to celebrate India's stunning win of the series. Harsha Bhogle a cricket commentator said, â€Å"India was a great talking nation, but wasn't great doing nation and they found that when Saurav came along and ne actually took that shirt ott, people said an nn someone's nas actually done it. Someone has done what we wanted to do and there wasn't any script written he Just did it† (Empire of Cricket-India). Ganguly had the vision that we can do it.And that's what it made a difference. Former Pakistani cricketer Ramiz Raja once said â€Å"India vs. Pakistan this is what cricket is all about. It's the contest that people look forward to. † Cricket played between India and Pakistan is often considered war than a match. There is always pressure on 11 players from both the nation when they face off. The reason why a match between India and Pakistan makes so much exciting and thrilling is because India's independence from Britain in 1947, both countries have fought three wars and they are still in disputes over Kashmir.During India's tour of Pakistan in 2004 the tension across the border was enormous. When India beat Pakistan in test series after 50 years it was a great gift for the people in India and people serving in Indian Army. This was by far the greatest achievement for team India under the captaincy of Ganguly. Intikhab Alam Pakistan team manager said, â€Å"Both teams cannot win, and somebody has to lose. Let it remain a cricket match and don't make us feel like we are standing on a warfront† (Doherty 3). The word defeat is not accepted to the fans from both the countries.Defeat to the ans means that they have been slapped on their face. India Pakistan cricket is considered as one of the prestigious cricket rivalry. It is the competition that even different international team such as Australia and England look forward to. During the 1996 World Cup India and Pakistan played in quarter-final match for the spot in sem i-final, two Pakistani fans died. â€Å"One had a heart attack and the other reportedly turned his gun on himself after shooting his TV in disgust at Pakistan's 39-run loss to India† (Doherty 2). Cricket played between India and Pakistan is the battle of do or die.India is a cricket crazy country where cricket runs in the blood of every Indian on the planet. There is an old saying that â€Å"Cricket is an Indian game accidentally discovered by the English† (Gopalan et al. 1). This is so true, because cricket in Indian culture is so popular that every child that is born in India wants to play cricket. It is the sport that unite entire nation together. Cricket has the unique ability to unite all of India over and above its diversities. â€Å"Inspiration, Passion, Obsession, Devotion, cricket evokes myriad responses across India.India rejoices every time team India ins and despairs at every loss† (Gopalan et al. 1). During the 1996 World Cup when India lost to Sri Lanka for the spot in final, fans erupted in Kolkata cricket stadium. At the scent of a defeat Indian fans started â€Å"throwing empty bottles; burning newspaper which is symptomatic of the growing intolerance and fanaticism of the Indian crowds† (Gopalan et al. 2). Indians fans react to the team lose very quickly and they want their team to win every single game which is impossible. â€Å"Perhaps the problem is that Indians expect too much from their cricketer† (Bose 240).Indians fans are Just aiting for the opportunity to show their anger towards their team when India loses. â€Å"For the large numbers of urban middle class Indians who embraced the game, it was a case of encountering a new and exciting sport, one that was far more interesting than the Indian options that existed at the time such as gilli danda, hockey' (Kasbekar 269). Cricket is more popular in India, because India doesn't have too many sports unlike the United States where they have hockey, basket ball, baseball, soccer, and football.The fans are evenly distributed when they have more choice available in ports while in India there is only one way ot tan tollowing which is Cricket. During the high profile match or tournaments Indian crowds are like ants and the cricket match is like sugar. Crowds are so glued to their seats or television set that they forget their problems in their life. The recent World Cup held in India, was big success for team India as they won their second title after 28 years. â€Å"India vs. Pakistan World Cup 2011 semi-final was watched by 67. 3 million people, India vs.Sri Lanka World Cup Final was watched by 68 million people† (Dhawan et al. 1). Cricket is ery popular and it draws more fans when India is performing at its best during bigger tournament. â€Å"There is no doubt that what made cricket so popular in India was nationalism. Cricket had become a reflection, a focus, and an instrument of Indian nationalism† (Kasbekar 269). Cric ket is the only sport that gives fans a chance to show their love and support towards their nation. When India plays against England or Pakistan it is the great atmosphere for the fans to support their team.The other reason cricket is so popular is because there is no caste system in India when it omes to cricket. People from any caste can play cricket for his national team. Indian cricket team is a big example of diversity there are players from different religions such as Guajarati, Muslim, Marathi, South Indian, and Punjabi. A person from different religions unites team India and it makes cricket more lovable. India's current cricket captain M. S. Dhoni comes from the lower caste. Now comes the new generation of cricket. The Indian Primer League also known as Indian Paisa League. Paisa in India means money.IPL's power is taking over the world. â€Å"The survey ndicated that 54 percent of the players would retire from one or more formats of the game because of too much internatio nal cricket† (Magotra 2). Sri Lankan player Lasith Malinga retires from test cricket to focus on IPL and Australia Player Adam Gilchrist retires from all the format of the cricket such as test, one-day, and twenty20 to play in ‘PL. â€Å"The money has made many international cricketers choose IPL over their countries† (Magotra 1). Virender Sehwag from India decided not to tour the West Indies series, because he wanted to play in ‘PL.Few Indian players decided not to tart their treatment on their injuries, because they did not wanted to miss out from ‘PL. According to the DNA: Daily News &Analysis former Sri Lankan cricketer Arjuna Ranatunga said, â€Å"IPL is the monster that will go on to destroy international cricket. † I agree with the former captain of Sri Lanka, because if the youngsters gets the chance to play in IPL and if he starts to make millions of dollar than why would he want to play for his national team if he can make a good livin g out of ‘PL. Bishan Bedi once said, â€Å"l find it suffocating honestly. I find it the most vulgar expression of cricket.It's not cricket, No† (Empire of Cricket-India). Few former cricketers find IPL as one of the destructive tournament that will affect the real cricket and its taste. But IPL is so much popular in India that even women are interested in watching IPL games. â€Å"Inspired by the English Premier League city based franchises has been created and sold for over 500 million pound. Players from all over the world are auction for sums beyond one million pound† (Empire of Cricket-India). Harsha Bhogle a cricket commentator said, â€Å"History will record 20 years from now as IPL as the greatest urning point ever in history of the game† (Empire of Cricket-India).The way IPL is going it will affect the international cricket by having few players retiring from their national team; this affects the fans that are true cricket lover towards their nati on. From the success ot I PL other countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka are considering to create their own twenty20 domestic league such as Sri Lankan Premier League, Pakistan Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League. With all this domestic cricket being played it will go on to destroy the real meat of cricket which is ne-day and test cricket.People have to remember that Indian Premier League is dessert and people cannot live on dessert forever they have to respect the real meat of cricket by banning the domestic twenty20 league. India is very rich cricketing nation where lot of people looking to make investment in cricket. â€Å"But there are fears that this big hitting twenty20 cricket will end up destroying traditions of ancient and modern in India and wider empire of cricket† (Empire of Cricket-India). All eyes are on India as they became the superior governing cricket nation. International Cricket Council should intervene in domestic cricket by banning twenty20 cricket league.The way there is demand for the players in IPL I think it is going to be very difficult to put restriction on the international players to not allow them to play in IPL, but for the sake of cricket and preserving the ancient culture ICC and BCCI should take this action and stop IPL from further destruction. International players have earned fame and popularity by playing for their national team not by the ‘PL. IPL is playing with fans emotion by encouraging players to play in their team and the downside of this is hat those players are taking retirement from other format of the cricket due to too much cricket matches.