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| Time to ponder? Image Source: Bollywoodworld.com |
Imagine eating your favourite cuisine two times a day for over
two months. It won’t be favourite anymore. That is IPL for you gentlemen. With ten teams
playing each other twice, the number of matches in Ipl-4 was a behemoth number
stretching over two months. IPL-5 hasn’t learned a lesson though. The bonanza
has featured a needlessly long league stage since its inception year. By the
time the knock-out stage arrives, the excitement is all gone. The body language
of some teams wears off, only adding fuel to the fire. The extended format has
pruned off the list of international matches. The four and five test tours have
become a rarity. Even if a country does long tours, the practice matches feel
the heat. The lucrative idea of raking in moolah is apparently preventing the
organizers to make IPL a shorter tournament. What it needs is a pool system for
league matches, much like ICC tournaments. That would also make the tournament
viewer’s delight .The absurd schedule of frequent travelling makes no sense,
only fatiguing the cricketers. Cheteshwar Pujara, for instance, picked up an
injury in last IPL that took ten months to recover. After his good knock in
South Africa, he squandered the opportunity to play in Australia and England.
These are series that can make or break careers. Shorter formats, say wrapping
up in 20 days, would also ensure that key players are not unavailable for
international duty. The scheduling can be effectively planned at time of
dormant international calendar. The idea of organizing IPL was to help bud
cricketers for international cricket but probably that was a masquerade of some
evil minds to make money hand over fist. The signs are frightening for cricket
but is anyone listening?
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