IPL's Camaraderie

Did anyone ever expected Saurav Ganguly and Mr. Ponting playing together for the same team for the same cause? Did anyone ever expected Shane Warne to say ,"Graeme Smith is like some rock for our team at the start?"

After all the ruckus and confusion over the money IPl generated for the star layers, BCCI, and the bosses of the respective teams one should look at the greener pastures of the biggest prime time event to be held in the recent past. What this mega event has done is that it has created a fraternity, a fraternity of people who used to distrust each other; at least for sometime there was only cricket talked about in the sports page; at least for sometime there only scorecards and not slangs and stings from one team on the other as a part of their so called "mental games." Cricket was the clear winner in this IPl; batsman hitting the red cherry out of the park, bowlers uprooting the stumps and fielders flying and aiming at the stumps; if this ain't cricket then what else one can call cricket to be.

Ask Swapnil Asnodkar that did he ever expected to open innings with Smith and Smith patting his back for him playing some great knocks? Did Dinesh Salunkhe ever expected to learn from Shane Warne? Ask Manpreet Gony how he felt when asked to share opening spell with Makahay Ntini. Ask Harbhajan whether he ever thought Ricky Ponting hugging him?

IPL has emerged as a great learning platform for young cricketers to share locker room with the legends and learn straight from the horse's mouth.  IPL, at the same time, has also given a means of employment to lots and lots of young cricketers which erstwhile were just playing cricket and not contributing to their family's earnings.These young cricketers can go on and start their own business with the money that they garnered from the franchisee.

I agree IPL has its downside too, betting, money laundering, underworld associations. But in today's world these are harsh realities that we should accept and find a way to diminish them but not at the expense of something good. Everything in this world has two sides. It is up to us which side we want to see. And it doesn't effect us to look at the brighter side of the things. Whether we call it business, money churning machine or some other slang, but clearly IPL has created a camaraderie in otherwise fiercely fought 22 yards of cricket.

This image clearly sums up what IPL means to me and what sports is all about: