Cricket goes beyond boundaries

It rocked world cricket in the seventies. Three decades hence, it's threatening a repeat, No wonder the cricketers - especially in the sub-continent - are caught in a tizzy, and feel a sense of déjŕ vu all over again.

Conservative cricket is on the boil, and fans are asking, will the game as it is known, survive the challenge from the Zee warlord Subhash? Traditional cricket's first challenger Packer who it was feared would do more damage to the game, left it more rich and enriched. Will Indian Cricket League (ICL) then be a boon or a nightmare for the BCCI?

Going by the knee-jerk reaction of Indian cricket's wise old men, the BCCI is running scared despite its official show of disdain for the new enfant terrible. The sequence of events in the recent past leave no one in any doubt that BCCI boss Sharad Pawar's smile is like an ill-disguised googly that can be seen from a mile away. When ICL was announced, the BCCI mocked at it, and predicted it would end up as pyjama cricket, a tamasha. When the Zee strongman threw in big bucks to entice the players, the Board smelt something fishy, and decided to do something to ward off the challenge. It announced that any player choosing the new outfit would have to choose between country and cash. A few days later, ICL released an impressive list of players who had made their choice in its favour, including big guns such as Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzay, Mohammad Yousuf, and Nicky Boje, to name a few, apart from 50-odd Ranji players. The Indian list comprised some of the most promising talent like Ambatti Rayudu and others who had played for India in the recent past like Dinesh Mongia. The day after, BCCI announced a steep hike in the cricketers' fees, up by about 7-13 times, including for domestic players. The choice before the players is now, country and cash, on the one hand, and cash and cricket on the other.

Like Packer, ICL may well end up transforming the way cricket is played and enjoyed in the sub-continent. Cricket as a team sport is hugely popular because of its jingoistic element. As far as the fans are concerned, the nation's pride is at stake, and every win or loss whips up public sentiments to a warlike frenzy. In contrast to this conservative perception of Indian cricket, ICL is experimenting with an all-new template. A tournament where top guns will match their wits, without the paraphernalia of representing their individual country. In other words, cricket will morph into a game that is played beyond boundaries. Like professional tennis on the international circuit, ICL will pull its weight on the personal flair and performance of its players, to re-create a brand of cricket that will be pure play, no more, no less.

Will it work - an outfit of former players, Test discards, ageing greats, players on the fringe, and promising first class cricketers? Will the advertisers unpurse their strings, will the fans extend their patronage, and will the experts endorse this brand and join its bandwagon?