Excitement, thrill, close shaves and toughness are the only words to describe the games played in the much loved Indian Premier League. The eight franchises fiercely battle it out against each other, with the undoubted motive of emerging victorious. Amidst these highly competitive games the viewers are immensely entertained as their adored cricketers give it their absolute best in order to get their respective sides past the victory mark.
In the ongoing season of the IPL though, there have been staggering disappointments when it comes to the concept of “fair competition”. Several IPL sides might feel highly dejected because of the outcome post the season. In this season so far, we have witnessed numerous situations, where a few sides have got the undue advantage over other teams. It is this undue advantage which can further dent the reputation of the IPL. The Governing Council of the IPL at any given cost must consider the remedies for the following factors.
Home Venues for some, not for all –
First and foremost, the biggest disadvantage has been the concept of “home venues”. In the current edition of the IPL, only four teams are getting the opportunity to play all their home games at their actual home. An instance of this statement is when the Rajasthan Royals, has to play its home games in Ahmedabad and Mumbai, rather than the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The teams that are getting to play all their “home” games at their desired homes are Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
This is clearly giving the four sides an edge over the other teams. The Royals looked out of sorts at the Brabourne Stadium, which was their alleged “home”. Empty stands and poor fan support greeted the Royals in their so called home. It was shameful to watch as the viewers themselves were left flabbergasted by watching empty stands. Such sights are nothing but a humiliation to the sport of cricket. The Kings XI, a team from the North played its “home” games in Pune! Clearly, they played like rookies there! Ditto for the Sunrisers (Vizag as their “home”), and possibly for the Daredevils, for whom Raipur is a home venue.
The remaining four teams have such an advantage that they can exploit their home conditions to a great extent. The four sides can doctor the pitches at home, and make life incredibly hard for the visiting teams. On the other hand, the other four teams get no such advantage.
Top players mysteriously not playing –
The second point which makes the IPL a biased outing is that several key planners have been suddenly “banned” or “rested” or even “benched” against major teams out of thin air. Sunil Narine, the wizard spinner was first suddenly banned out of nowhere ahead of the Champions League T20 final against Chennai Super Kings. This season too, the mystery spinner was suddenly “reported” despite having his action cleared by the BCCI. And no rewards for guessing why was he “reported” and against which side would he have to bowl in the very next game after being banned – Chennai Super Kings.
Narine was reported at such a juncture that he would have to miss out the CSK game on a turner in Chennai. Narine had just found his rhythm back, when he was banned. When CSK played KKR a couple of days later, just before the game a news was made public that Narine would not be allowed to bowl the off spinner. That was as good as making him redundant. Narine missing against CSK was a clear advantage to the men in yellow. Narine surely was never banned before a game which was against another side.
Political issues brought in Cricket –
The third factor in the argument of an undue advantage is that because of political reasons, Sri Lankan players are not allowed in games played in Tamil Nadu. The Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk never featured any Sri Lankan this time around. As a consequence, the likes of Malinga, Mathews and Thisara Parera could not play against CSK in their backyard. This boosted the Super Kings to a great extent. If there was to be complete biasness, then the Super Kings’ home game should have been played at a venue where there would be no political tension. How would the Super Kings perform, if their key player was to miss the game because of a political situation?
International Duty during IPL –
The next factor is that the ICC again has not provided a window to the IPL. The England- New Zealand; England – West Indies and the Bangladesh – Pakistan series’ have meant that several IPL sides have been without their key players. The Knight Riders badly missed the services of Shakib. The Super Kings and the Sunrisers will dearly miss McCullum and Boult respectively.
It is high time that the right people take a strict action against the undue advantages which a few teams have.