Praise to the Pup

Written by Sreeram Ramachandran

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

The IPL is great in the way a few shots of scotch are great, but you have to keep from being addicted and letting the alcohol take over your life. So it is good to see someone resist the temptation and say, "Sorry mate, got to get to work tomorrow, catch you guys over the weekend" the way Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson have.

It comes as tremendous relief to see top level players resist the lure of money and concentrate on what really matters- international cricket and representing your country. When the IPL bigwigs talk about it reviving and taking domestic cricket to the next level it seems quite clear that they have had more swigs of their home-brewed alcohol than is good for them, and are clearly swaying a little and need some sobering down.

The IPL is nothing more than a carnival. It has no tests, no ODI's and if anything, will only take attention away from the real domestic cricket that is your Ranji, Duleep and Irani trophies and make them look poorer in comparison.

If this mad shower of money and glamour continues it is inevitable that every young kid wielding a bat is going to want to grow up to be a T20 glamour boy, Test cricket and basic, technical batting skills be damned. Sure, everyone will nod their heads and agree that Test cricket is the real thing, but in a world where Glenn McGrath gets no bids while the infinitely less proven Harbhajan gets $8,50,000, there is little you can do to stop a kid from wanting to jump down the track and stay there rather than practice his forward defense.

There is already a concern that for all its popularity, the Stanford 20/20 effectively marks the end of Windies dominance in Test cricket. Given all this it is hugely encouraging to see the likes of Clarke and Johnson say balls to money and glamour and buckle down and concentrate on their game and their country.

A capitalist world is great as long as the population doesn't let money rule over them. It is extremely important to have role models stand up and show that they can't be bought, and thus lend some perspective and sobriety to everything.

Of course, by his own admission, Clarke isn't totally against the IPL and will look to join it in due course once he has his Test and ODI form and career settled, but hey, you gotta binge sometime. It is about knowing when to drink and holding your drink, and not about abstaining.

(Click here to know more about Sreeram)

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