There seems no limit to the prizes a grateful nation is showering on Mahendra Singh Dhoni for leading India to victory in cricket’s World Cup.
Since striking the winning runs last Saturday against Sri Lanka, his rewards have included an award of 10 million rupees, or $225,000, from the Board of Control for Cricket in India; another 20 million rupees from the government of the capital, Delhi; lifetime free first-class travel on Indian railways; an honorary army commission; and a plot of land in the southern state of Karnataka.
Indranil Das Blah, chief executive of Kwan, an Indian sports marketing group, told The Times of India that Dhoni’s average rate for an endorsement had almost tripled since before the World Cup, to 150 million rupees, way ahead even of Bollywood’s biggest stars.
But what Dhoni probably needs more than anything else, after the physical and emotional effort of a six-week tournament preceded by a year of planning, is a decent rest.
That is the one thing he will not be getting. Dhoni will be back on the field again, once more in his hugely demanding dual role of captain and wicketkeeper, when the lucrative Indian Premier League begins its fourth season Friday.
Ten franchises, including two newcomers, Kochi and Pune, will compete in a 70-match regular season, each playing 14 games under the Twenty20 format — in which matches last around three hours — before the four-team playoffs, which culminate with the final in Chennai on May 28.
Dhoni, described by his Chennai teammate Subramaniam Badrinath as the “best captain in the world at present,” leads the Super Kings, the reigning champion, in the opening match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai, formerly known as Madras.
National allegiances have given way to the turbo-capitalism of the I.P.L.
National teammates have become opponents. Men who were rivals last week are now colleagues.
Also on Dhoni’s team in Chennai is Nuwan Kulasekara, the Sri Lankan bowler he bludgeoned for that winning six-hit in the Cup final. The opposing captain on Friday is Gautam Gambhir, Dhoni’s partner in the 109-run fourth wicket partnership that took India to the point of victory.
Kumar Sangakkara has stepped down as Sri Lanka’s captain in shorter forms of the game, but he still leads the Deccan Chargers in their opener against Rajasthan on Saturday. Mahela Jayawardene, whose enchanting batting seemed to have put Sri Lanka in charge of the World Cup final, captains the Kochi Tuskers Kerala when that club debuts Saturday against Bangalore.
There were other shifts in the league, too. The I.P.L. runs on three-year player contracts, so Year 4 has been preceded by a giant rotisserie-style auction with almost every player up for grabs and few returning to the same team.
The main exception was Chennai, which chose to keep the core of its championship squad from 2010. Many observers will agree with Badrinath that this was a wise move.
“It is a great thing that our team is more or less the same,” Badrinath said. “We’ve been a close-knit unit and have been playing some good cricket together. It takes quite a while to develop that camaraderie among players and play like a unit.
“Having the same set of players will definitely give us an edge over the other teams. Every player already knows his role, and defining them will not be an issue.”
The two new franchises have already had a huge impact. The auctions that led to franchises for Kochi and Pune provoked allegations of corruption that eventually led to the downfall of the I.P.L.’s founder, Lalit Modi, who now lives in London and refuses to return to India because he believes doing so would put him in danger.
There were doubts over whether Kochi could even take its place in the league, and the franchise has already had to change its name. After fans complained that its original moniker, Indi Commandos, meant it would be the only team with a name that did not include its city or region, it was changed to Tuskers Kerala. That name was chosen by fans and approved by the franchise director Mukesh Patel, who pointed out that the elephant is the state animal of Kerala. “Elephants are the largest land animals alive today, and their tusks are attractive, sharp and intimidating,” he added.
The Pune Warriors, led by World Cup M.V.P. Yuvraj Singh, has rejected the Western-style cheerleaders employed by other franchises and instead has “dancing queens” dressed in Indian costumes who perform traditional dances.
If that strikes a nostalgic note at odds with the I.P.L.’s blaring modernity, it is not out of place. Almost as venerable as those dances are some veteran players who have found the huge amounts of money to be made playing the I.P.L.’s three-hour matches are the perfect incentives to prolong careers. Pune’s first opponent on Sunday is Kings XI Punjab, led by Australian batsman-wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, 39, a mere lad compared to his legendary spin-bowling compatriot Shane Warne, 41, who captains Rajasthan again. The latest recruit to the ranks of the superannuated superstars is Muttiah Muralitharan, 39 later this month, who displaced Warne atop the all-time international wicket-taking lists.
He played his last game for Sri Lanka in the World Cup final last Saturday but has signed for Kochi.
The I.P.L. is raucous and ever-changing, but this edition might just show that stability is the key to success. Dhoni, already a winner in every sense, could add a fresh triumph come late May, with Chennai a good bet to emerge — and repeat — as champion.
ROHIT KALIA
PGDM 2ND SEM
Since striking the winning runs last Saturday against Sri Lanka, his rewards have included an award of 10 million rupees, or $225,000, from the Board of Control for Cricket in India; another 20 million rupees from the government of the capital, Delhi; lifetime free first-class travel on Indian railways; an honorary army commission; and a plot of land in the southern state of Karnataka.
Indranil Das Blah, chief executive of Kwan, an Indian sports marketing group, told The Times of India that Dhoni’s average rate for an endorsement had almost tripled since before the World Cup, to 150 million rupees, way ahead even of Bollywood’s biggest stars.
But what Dhoni probably needs more than anything else, after the physical and emotional effort of a six-week tournament preceded by a year of planning, is a decent rest.
That is the one thing he will not be getting. Dhoni will be back on the field again, once more in his hugely demanding dual role of captain and wicketkeeper, when the lucrative Indian Premier League begins its fourth season Friday.
Ten franchises, including two newcomers, Kochi and Pune, will compete in a 70-match regular season, each playing 14 games under the Twenty20 format — in which matches last around three hours — before the four-team playoffs, which culminate with the final in Chennai on May 28.
Dhoni, described by his Chennai teammate Subramaniam Badrinath as the “best captain in the world at present,” leads the Super Kings, the reigning champion, in the opening match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai, formerly known as Madras.
National allegiances have given way to the turbo-capitalism of the I.P.L.
National teammates have become opponents. Men who were rivals last week are now colleagues.
Also on Dhoni’s team in Chennai is Nuwan Kulasekara, the Sri Lankan bowler he bludgeoned for that winning six-hit in the Cup final. The opposing captain on Friday is Gautam Gambhir, Dhoni’s partner in the 109-run fourth wicket partnership that took India to the point of victory.
Kumar Sangakkara has stepped down as Sri Lanka’s captain in shorter forms of the game, but he still leads the Deccan Chargers in their opener against Rajasthan on Saturday. Mahela Jayawardene, whose enchanting batting seemed to have put Sri Lanka in charge of the World Cup final, captains the Kochi Tuskers Kerala when that club debuts Saturday against Bangalore.
There were other shifts in the league, too. The I.P.L. runs on three-year player contracts, so Year 4 has been preceded by a giant rotisserie-style auction with almost every player up for grabs and few returning to the same team.
The main exception was Chennai, which chose to keep the core of its championship squad from 2010. Many observers will agree with Badrinath that this was a wise move.
“It is a great thing that our team is more or less the same,” Badrinath said. “We’ve been a close-knit unit and have been playing some good cricket together. It takes quite a while to develop that camaraderie among players and play like a unit.
“Having the same set of players will definitely give us an edge over the other teams. Every player already knows his role, and defining them will not be an issue.”
The two new franchises have already had a huge impact. The auctions that led to franchises for Kochi and Pune provoked allegations of corruption that eventually led to the downfall of the I.P.L.’s founder, Lalit Modi, who now lives in London and refuses to return to India because he believes doing so would put him in danger.
There were doubts over whether Kochi could even take its place in the league, and the franchise has already had to change its name. After fans complained that its original moniker, Indi Commandos, meant it would be the only team with a name that did not include its city or region, it was changed to Tuskers Kerala. That name was chosen by fans and approved by the franchise director Mukesh Patel, who pointed out that the elephant is the state animal of Kerala. “Elephants are the largest land animals alive today, and their tusks are attractive, sharp and intimidating,” he added.
The Pune Warriors, led by World Cup M.V.P. Yuvraj Singh, has rejected the Western-style cheerleaders employed by other franchises and instead has “dancing queens” dressed in Indian costumes who perform traditional dances.
If that strikes a nostalgic note at odds with the I.P.L.’s blaring modernity, it is not out of place. Almost as venerable as those dances are some veteran players who have found the huge amounts of money to be made playing the I.P.L.’s three-hour matches are the perfect incentives to prolong careers. Pune’s first opponent on Sunday is Kings XI Punjab, led by Australian batsman-wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, 39, a mere lad compared to his legendary spin-bowling compatriot Shane Warne, 41, who captains Rajasthan again. The latest recruit to the ranks of the superannuated superstars is Muttiah Muralitharan, 39 later this month, who displaced Warne atop the all-time international wicket-taking lists.
He played his last game for Sri Lanka in the World Cup final last Saturday but has signed for Kochi.
The I.P.L. is raucous and ever-changing, but this edition might just show that stability is the key to success. Dhoni, already a winner in every sense, could add a fresh triumph come late May, with Chennai a good bet to emerge — and repeat — as champion.
ROHIT KALIA
PGDM 2ND SEM
No comments:
Post a Comment