Of course IPL followed by World Cup T-20 matches is definitely an overdose of cricket. The slight reduction in response to these matches and the acute problem of water shortage for matches played in Maharashtra all reduced the shin out of the game. Matches are being shifted including the final to other venues as per court order. Slam-bang league is back and the IPL extravaganza saw many episodes and the controversy continues to haunt the game. Whenever there is a bloated money chest a scam is inevitable. That is what we witnessed in eight editions of IPL and it does not augur well for the game, especially in an Indian scenario. This is exactly what has happened in the high profile IPL. With such obscene amounts of money, this has become the norm. IPL extravaganza has taken the country by storm in 8 editions of the Championship. The debarring of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two seasons did make lot of differences. The matches played in Chennai are just a dream of the distant past. Rajasthan Royals could not enter the league and enjoy the Jaipur Maharaja comfort there in scenic atmosphere. As the game of cricket is pushed to the back seat we miss the action after the matches and fixing fiasco made the players doubly careful in getting caught in the camera and go to the extent of locking behind the bars. Anything, which is repeatedly done will lose its importance and IPL is not an exception to this. This time round the controversies are curtailed but created at the beginning of the tournament to give the players, the spectators and the State conducting these matches give a trying time from the word go. It may look clear that too much of T-20 cricket is an overdose and people could not digest this form of the game as the results of the matches are made known before the toss and the academic interest is totally lost.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
