Will The IPL Ever Be As Fiery As The English Premier League?

[Pay Per Ghost]

Last week I saw Dancing Drogba score the only goal of the game against Barcelona. Thump his chest, slide down, and point to his badge. Well maybe it wasn't just last week, but you get it. An Ivorian signed by a club in London kisses his badge like its his national team's. There is this comraderie (sp?) and passion about representing a big (in stature and legacy) club that I have seen since, well, forever. The roots of how football clubs went so over with the public goes back centuries. But one phase or excerpt if you will, of it that I wanna pull out is how the English embraced and made it this community love-affair. How the fans embrace it and make the viewers at home feel the passion about following their local club. Epic poetic atmospheres have made the broadcasters rich and the fans wanting more. Passion sells and multiplies.


Now fast forward to yesterday in Pune, India.


Delhi Daredevils vs Pune Warriors. KP and Sehwag were bludgeoning Pune all over the park. Out of options, Saurav Ganguly stepped up to what it seemed like another smashfest when,

Call me crazy, but I would take this over all the happy, smiley faces when they get caught in the deep, with their team needing them to score a knock. Dada yesterday showed that it is a few individuals, that give importance to winning no matter what, that make any kind of competition watchable. You could feel how he was celebrating for his team, rather than just another wicket or paycheck. It is all about the money here, and there's nothing wrong with that. But if there is no fierce competitiveness, the gamespan can only get smaller. Why? Because fans see the cricketers smile and not give a shit about winning at times. The fans never realize what a run means for the chase and psychology of the game. Its a BOTCHFEST with no method. People's attention span can only get smaller. Also the very hap-hazard affair of handling transfers and signings in the IPL hasn't helped. A normal fan has no idea where some of the good players of last season are before their first match.

I know a lot of you will say it is huge money-churner and should stay that by keeping their concept as it is. True, but will helping it get that fiery EPL popularity give it more longevity?


Is this the root on which IPL's competitiveness can be made iconic on a GLOBAL scale?

Will we see such level be achieved in our lifetime?

 

[Reflection]

Its not impossible, but Cricket will have to aim at a larger demographic to be as successful as the most loved sport in the world. Now that countries like canada, america, ireland, scotland etc. have started playing the sport, it is only a matter of time till it spreads to many other countries like japan, germany, russia and brazil as well. And once it does, there will be no turning back. in the next twenty years, if not earlier, cricket WILL be as big as football.

 

[Reflection]

But again, the general people,especially those from the west will have to change their mindset and give thìs game a chance. if you ask them about cricket, they're gonna say that its played in the third world countries, and baseball is a much better sport. so you see, thìs ignorance is very dangerous, it stands in the way of advancement ofy any kind. getting rid of thìs ignorance should be their prime concern, only on accomplishment of which, can they advance on making cricket or rather IPL as massive as the EPL.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I do not think so, Ghost. Firstly, there is hardly any regionalistic bias as is the case in case of the EPL. The fans of the respective clubs in the EPL really want their team to win and they boo the other team voreficiously. Can you imagine someone like Sachin Tendulkar getting booed anywhere in India? That is almost impossible. Also the regionalism has been watered down with local heroes of the particular region turning out for other teams like Harbhajan turning out for Mumbai, Yuvraj for Pune and Rahul Dravid for Rajasthan.

The other thing to note is that cricket is played way more than football on an international stage. As such even the fans of the sport and even the players are more accustomed to intense rivalries on the international stage than on the club stage. There may be exceptions like Ganguly but that may also be because he has a point to prove after being dumped by his old team, the Kolkata Knightriders and also having been out of international cricket for such a long time. I expect the matches to be hard fought but I do not feel that the rivalries will ever be as cutthroat on a club stage.

I think that the IPL will continue to be a great event even in the coming years but it will be viewed by the fans as a celebration of the game rather than as a place for regionalistic rivalry. It won't matter to anyone in Chennai if the Mumbai Indians or the Pune Warriors win the title and not their own team. Fans view IPL as a form of entertainment more than anything else, something in which they can lose themselves for three hours regardless of who is playing.

It will never be as fiery as the EPL but it will be successful in it's own way. That is so because unlike in the EPL, the only draw here is the game of cricket and the unbridled enthusiasm of the Indian people towards it. In case of the EPL, you can say that the rivalries between the clubs is as much or at times even more of a draw than the game itself.

 

[SD619]

One reason why IPL will never be as popular is that EPL is still the same as traditional football i.e. a 90 minutes match with the same rules. IPL's popularity is tied a lot to the popularity of T-20, which is very different from conventional cricket (Tests and ODIs). Many former cricketers have lambasted this version of the game and have called T-20 (and the IPL in particular) the death of traditional cricket. EPL has rarely faced such problems.

Also, the teams keep changing every year. It takes almost a week to realize that Rahul Dravid is indeed the captain of Rajasthan and it is not a leaner-tanned version of Shane Warne. many of the youngsters(or foreigners) are completely unknowns before playing for the IPL. Not many knew who Awana or Faf du Plessis were.

 

[MCMG]

In Britain football is THE sport. Nothing surpasses it in terms of interest and coverage which is very similar to the situation of cricket in India.

Footballers go the premiership to play in the best league in the world for some of the best teams in the world. These are permanent transfers where the footballer moves to that country and lives there all year round. Drogba was at Chelsea for something like eight years. Of course you are going to become entwined with the club. You are going to love the club like it is your own.

The majority of non-Indian crickets go the IPL for one reason. Money. Therefore they are not passionate about playing for that particular team. I would say many don't care as long as they are picking up their paycheck. More importantly they are only in India for about a month. They aren't living there, they are constantly travelling so it they aren't going to be as loyal and passionate.

The IPL will never be like the premiership. I'm sure the fans are just as passionate but the players will never be unless you are indian.

 

[Alastor]

In Britain football is THE sport. Nothing surpasses it in terms of interest and coverage which is very similar to the situation of cricket in India.

Footballers go the premiership to play in the best league in the world for some of the best teams in the world. These are permanent transfers where the footballer moves to that country and lives there all year round. Drogba was at Chelsea for something like eight years. Of course you are going to become entwined with the club. You are going to love the club like it is your own.

The majority of non-Indian crickets go the IPL for one reason. Money. Therefore they are not passionate about playing for that particular team. I would say many don't care as long as they are picking up their paycheck. More importantly they are only in India for about a month. They aren't living there, they are constantly travelling so it they aren't going to be as loyal and passionate.

The IPL will never be like the premiership. I'm sure the fans are just as passionate but the players will never be unless you are indian.

Sorry to burst your bubble but footballers move to the english league for one reason too and that is money. The premiership was leaking quality players who see the league as a stepping stone to bigger contracts at bigger clubs until rich owners started buying up clubs in the English league to afford the obscene contracts.

Historically, English clubs buy young quality players from overseas by payng them more than foreign clubs due to local laws preventing clubs from signing youth player to big contracts and also the big foreign clubs usually value experience more than potential. Foreign clubs prefer to pay premium for proven players while English clubs prefer to pay premium for potential until the era of the billionaire owners.

 

[MCMG]

Sorry to burst your bubble but footballers move to the english league for one reason too and that is money.

I definitely agree that some would move to the league for money and I would never deny that but I don't think it is the main reason people move. Perhaps for players moving between clubs within the premiership but i would say the world class players would get the same wage regardless to where they are.

That is completely different for cricket. The wage that these players can get in the IPL are astronomical compared to anywhere else and that it is a very easy way to get a lot of money.

 

[Alastor]

I definitely agree that some would move to the league for money and I would never deny that but I don't think it is the main reason people move. Perhaps for players moving between clubs within the premiership but i would say the world class players would get the same wage regardless to where they are.

That is completely different for cricket. The wage that these players can get in the IPL are astronomical compared to anywhere else and that it is a very easy way to get a lot of money.

What other reasons do you see players moving from overseas to the English league other than for money? It is a job for players, they follow where the money lead them. Right now the English league is one of the better paying leagues with more employment opportunities due to tv contracts being shared equally by every club in the league compared to other major European leagues.

How many world class players will choose the English league over other leagues when offered the same wages? Check the list of the past 20 fifa world footballer of the year. How many ply their trade in the english league when they were at their peak? Either English Clubs were unable to match wages offered elsewhere or the best players rather play in other leagues when wages are similar.

As for IPL to obtain same popularity as the Premiership, it is difficult because soccer is a mass-appeal game compared to cricket. For IPL to be as successful and popular, the world governing body need to promote the sports much like how Fifa 'promote' the sports of soccer.

 

[MCMG]

The Premiership is the greatest league in the world. I'm sure footballers want to play there as they know it is where the competition is at its highest. For a player attracting the best teams, he could get the same wage in England, Spain, Italy and probably at Bayern,PSG and other rich clubs dotted around the world. England just has several wealthy clubs able to pay these wages.

 

[Dark_Knight]

Comparing the IPL to the EPL? Really? No, come on, really? Wowzers. The IPL is catering to a niche market that accomplishes nothing for overall development of the game of cricket, and overexaggeratory celebrations aren't going to bring more viewers in for the sport.

 

[Loveless]

For so many reasons, no, never.
No matter how popular cricket gets, it's a slow game that involves a lot of standing around doing nothing. It simply doesn't have the grass roots accessibility, which means that when kids are growing up and having their school breaks, they haven't the time, space, equipment or desire to stand around waiting their turn.
Instead they'll go and play football which requires a ball and your coat as a goalpost. In the UK there is a group understanding, everyone is the referee, anyone can join, teams can be as big as you like as long as they're roughly even and there's space to play. It's the ultimate inclusive game and because of that, a massive majority of kids grow up playing and then watching it, whole communities being based around the big clubs. It's really the closest thing most of the country has to a religion and the loyalty to "your club" runs deep.

 

[Loveless]

The Premiership is the greatest league in the world. I'm sure footballers want to play there as they know it is where the competition is at its highest. For a player attracting the best teams, he could get the same wage in England, Spain, Italy and probably at Bayern,PSG and other rich clubs dotted around the world. England just has several wealthy clubs able to pay these wages.

To be honest many of the top players don't want to play in the Premier League because it's such a physical place. Players don't get the same protection from refs here and the perception is that spending your career in England will cut it short at the top level by 2 or 3 years.