Cricinfo - Blogs - Long Stop - IPL's move is inevitable

Now IPL is set to take cricket in the direction of Formula One. This is sport in the post-modern world, not restricted by boundaries, geographical or otherwise. The IPL’s claim that city-teams and city-loyalties were being encouraged always sounded hollow anyway. Now, with the caravan moving to England or South Africa, the spin doctors will try to top their original spin doctoring.

Cricket has long ceased to be a game over 22 yards, and become one that is played over 22 inches (or whatever is the size of your television set). This has already seen competitive matches in countries like Canada, UAE, Singapore, and Morocco which are hardly the bastions of the game. ‘Have television, will play’ is the motto, and it is in keeping with this that the IPL move - despite the tears being shed over it - appears to be
inevitable. The security concerns have merely hastened the process of an international league conceived in India being taken around the world.

That is why the franchisees are not particularly fussed. Firstly, there are enough Indians in most cricket playing countries who can fill a stadium. Then the Shah Rukh Khans and Preity Zintas can strut and wave for the cameras just as effectively from the Wanderers or the Oval. And audiences are just as likely to take to the mixed goodies that come with
having players from different countries in the same team.

Much as Bangalore loves Rahul Dravid, the crowd this year would be more keen on watching Kevin Pietersen. Kolkata worship Sourav Ganguly, but it is Brendon McCullum who sets EdenGardens alight. The IPL loyalties are more individual than team loyalties, more about continuous action regardless of who is providing it. The spin doctors got it wrong the first time. They should have focused on the boundaries (geographical) being erased rather than new ones being drawn.

Cricket, by its nature, is conservative. But Twenty20 is only incidentally about cricket, and therefore is under no obligation to respect hoary traditions. This is not such a bad thing if the more things change (in Twenty20), the more they remain the same (in Test cricket).

I dont agree with the views at all. You have simply dismissed all the spectators who came in tens of thousands to watch the matches and support their teams last year as irrelevant. By the same token, soccer's EPL can be played in Singapore and Kuala Lampur and nothing will be lost.

I'll tell you what's more inevitable than sport, rules, common sense and loyalty - Making Big Money.

Menon is right. Even if some T20 team from other nations' league comes visiting India, we shall rate it from its performance only. All this moving out is a blessing in disguise.

well said! The last statement sums it up for me! whats all the fuss about anyways? 20/20 was always mean't to evolve cricket from its traditional ways, however this has given test cricket a platform to be cherished, appreciated and more importantly enjoyed by its most loyal fans including me.

Formula 1 was always about finding the quickest driver around a track over a season and not about the quickest country.. So Ferrari V Mclaren V Renault is not a new phenomenon at all.. It is a sport fought by individuals who happen to be part of a good or bad team.. That is how it has always been.. Cricket has always been about teams and nationalities, much like football until the UEFA Champions League came about.. This could be crickets equivalent of it..

Moving IPL helps domestic players and youngsters to display their ability in foriegn soil.Not many domestic players participating in IPL have the feel of performing outside India.

It's not inevitable. It should have been postponed atleast till the elections are over. It's mere arrogance by the board and officials concerned. No cricket lover is actually concerned abou the IPL. Only board is making a hype. Cricket lovers enjoy seing cricket even by seing the old international games. Who wants a particular to win a IPL contest. No one is bothered except the concerned franchises.

stop using so many brackets...

Boy! You are a visionary...Please share the next 20 yrs...

I have to disagree that the city-based loyalty claims were hollow, it is these loyalties that have brought American sport to where it is today and I think that was one of the clearer parts of the IPL vision.

I have to disagree with Nish about the American sports thriving on City based loyalties, that is very limited in American sports. I live near DC and let me tell you there are as many Dallas cowboy fans as the local redskin's maybe a bit less but still there is a pretty significant fan base for cowboys.

I wonder whether cricket will have the money spinning power that it enjoys in the sub-continent in other parts of the world. IPL is essentially a shrewd scheme to exploit the cricket fanaticism of the people of India (Make hay while the sun shines). While TV viewership will probably still be substantial, one feels that some of the spirit will be lost. I don't think that one can draw similarities with Formula1 - because the sponsors there directly benefit (technological branding) from victories.

Nice article.Shifting the IPL out of India for the sole reason that the "show must go on",proves that the IPL is after all a sport.After a series of good scores,a player Sachin Tendulkar gets a low score and proves that he is after all a human being who will be subject to failures.In the same way after all the fake hoopla that surrounded the IPL calling it as "entertainment",the reality has finally dawned that it is a sport,at the end of the day.

Na...The writer's comments are arguable. Cricket in Singapore will not be same as it is in India.

you come across as a patron of the self-admiration society.

please care to share with us the next 20 years of international sports...

the loyality claims were never hollow as mr.menon thinks. i think he should sit among the crowd to see the cheers they make for their home team,wether they are mumbaikars for m.indians or kolkatta crowd for their boyz.i think mr.menon has got some other definition for loyality......very much possible.

I am English and live in London. I am also a amateur cricketer and think it very unwise the IPL contemplate a competition here starting in April. It has been known to rain heavily at this time of year but, more importantly, the temperatures will not exactly be balmy for cricket watching. Wrong time of year for us I am afraid - I can't wait for my opening fixture in late April under leaden skies, batting on a bright green and slow wicket with the ambient temperature of 45F..!

It is'nt bad for Indian cricket that we have friends who can accomodate us in what is essentially an INDIAN league to played out during extraordinary times,but what message are we delivering if the second most populous country on this planet cannot handle an INDIAN event just because of two factors --General elections and Perceived terror threats.Looks frighteningly similar to ur neighour wherein repeated head of states absconds to some other country when out of power.Banana cricket,suresh??

Interesting point of view! Very different from what everyone else - the supporters as well as the naysayers - is saying! I tend to agree with you, Mr.Menon. Somewhere I read about the impact of globalization - that it has lead to a product / service being manufactured at the place which has the lowest cost or where the most efficient process is used and shipped using the most efficient, cost-effective means and sent to the market where the customers are. At some level this is what is happening with respect to the IPL I guess. But as sport is also about fans and emotions (I am a fan too), I guess many will find it a bit difficult to accept. It will be interesting to follow the future direction that the IPL will take.

"international sport would break away from the narrow confines of nationalism, time and place". Nothing could be further from the truth, at least in cricket. A Sachin Tendulkar, an Imran Khan or an Ian Botham became who they are because they played for their country. IPL is just cashing in on the ready made popularity of players because they played for their country. In America and even in Europe people are very passionate about their local teams. Cricket is an Indian sport (because it is running based on Indian rupees). By and large Indians are passionate only about their national team. IPL is just a bit of "time-pass" where they can watch the cricket without worrying about who wins. Take away international cricket and IPL will crumble.

It is absolutely true that who wants which particular team is winning in IPL. It is only the hype created by IPL bosses and the few celebrity franchise owners for their own benefit. As a cricket enthusiast , I would like to see India win against any othet country rather than Delhi & Chennai teams. To tell you the truth, it is not in the interest of the developement of game as they claim purely commercial.

Faheem

I think the author has missed the whole flavour of IPL 1. It was the crowds who thronged to the stadiums and brought that special effect aided by the first time experience of cheer girls. How can you replicate this in SA/UK? The soul of IPL is gone. What remains is the body with greed and money power. I do firmly believe that the major factor for success of IPL was city loyalties. Otherwise how can you explain the buzz and excitement at Bangalore for the last matches when Royal Challengers were truly out of the game?

It is not inevitable but it is a pity!

Everyone can talk but remember it is great to reorganise the IPL away from India. Hats down to Mr. Lalith Modi & BCCI - gentlemen you are great ! One request please see that we all over the world would like to watch IPL live. A Big Thank you

Hey ! I have a suggestion : Why don't we shift the general elections ? Anyway, who wants to vote for these ridiculous parties & their farcical candidates ?!

In this time when economy is not good, politians behaved irresponsible to IPL by not giving importance. It is no secret IPL is about big money and government should never allowed it go out of hand like this. At the same time, the time frame of IPL is very important as we got many international players who are part of ICC scheduled matches all around the world. It is impossible to move IPL at any month government wants, rather they can easily postpone elections as no big loss to common people (except politians). In any case IPL management done good decision by still playing overseas so TV rights all over world is boost for economies. Hope people vote for sensible goverment atleast this time who can realize this big loss.

It is not inevitable but it is a pity!

All these views of people and including me does not have any value and never will. IPL is about is a section of people coming together to make more money to their already overflowing bank balances. In India or on foreign soil, whether Live or on TV how does it matter.

Cricket is cricket , be it Test or ODI or 20/20,it dosen't really matter.What matters is quality and IPL has plenty to offer... accept it and you will enjoy it. I am fan of all forms of cricket coz I don't have any bias in my mind.

Some people try to always say Test cricket is real cricket.Agreed , so what does it say that you should not enjoy bang bang 20-20's ? Think over it :-)

"City based Loyalty"... a bit of confusion over what it means. Delhi Daredevils means in my opinion not the loyalty to Delhi as a city bu to the composite cricket team, may be to a few players of the team or to the owners. A similar situation with say Manchester United now identified with some super players like Ronaldo...so! we are moving in the right direction. If Mumbai Indians has Sachin, the the South Africans who could be the crowd actually watching may be rooting for that team or for any other "city" team with their player. Or for Kolkatta knightriders, if their favourite is Shah Rukh or Punjab Kings with Yuv Raj or Preety.

it is blessing In disguise. I feel in two years time IPL frenchise owner & mgmt might have felt to gloablised due to change in viewership . Only visionary can understand rest other clap after seeing results . Dont forget how young team India was critised earliear.

if I[ndia]PL is changed to I[nternational]PL then why not change the "maximum 4 Foreign Players limit" condition to "minimum 4 Indian (Fanchise City) Players".... just a thought....

i agree. T20 will take the game of cricket ahead. Cricket in Olympics and played by US, canada or singapore is just a matter of about 10 years with T20

Your post would be true if the IPL was not attempted to based on city loyalty and inter-city rivalry. Much as we like watching Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum and the lot, we the IPL is built trying to convince us to fork out money in stadia and merchandise that identifies us with teams.

Most IPL owners seem dissatisfied that it is moving out of India, but realize that NOT holding it at all would involve huge losses to them. So their support is mostly based on choice between bad and worse situation.

@ Raj: 'It's not inevitable. It should have been postponed atleast till the elections are over. It's mere arrogance by the board and officials concerned'

Play after polls? Do you want all the games to be washed out? I have never seen a more ridiculous comment.

I am a cricket lover and I loved IPL last season. It was a fantastic tournament. And, I'd watch IPL over repeats of any old cricket tournaments any day. (except perhaps the 1983 WC games)

Totally disagree with Suresh. The cricket spectators of India do not have city loyalties or club loyalties - yet. They want some bang-bang cricket for 3 hours, no matter from where does it come. I won't agree that a Chennai specatator will not appreciate or support Sachin Tendulkar even if Sachin plays against Chennai; nor will a Delhite ever "hate" Dhoni if MSD goes after Delhi bowlers! IPL is not EPL - not yet anyway - to have fierce loyalties of the clubs. IPL should have been played in India after the Elections are over.

I feel the Bharat ratnas and elite players of India should not go to play IPL if its not in India. All guys talk of national love and pride but when time is here to prove your love for the country, money becomes important. Playing IPL in other country does not make it IPL. Lets stand up and say I will not play IPL if not in India, this is called national interest and not what Lalit Modi and his team is up to.

Loyalties are not formed in one year. It takes a long time. So don't jump to conclusions...

And please write your predictions for the next 10 years right now. Else you will claim that you said so and so 10 years.

I also want all the people who watch this IPL to vote against congress, irrespective of which party they vote. The shift in IPL venue should cost them and election, then they will realize the consequences of denying hardcore cricket fans of their game.

Suresh Menon has lost his touch or is he just writing like this to please BCCI.

The original Objective of IPL is lost by taking it out of India.

If people still claim that this gives exposure to domestic cricketers, wouldnt it be better to legitimize ICL who are doing a better job by giving chance to more domestic players.

Atleast now, is it not clear to everyone that come-what-may IPL/BCCI will do anything to make money.

If BCCI is the one running the Indian Cricket for the country, cant the Government stop them from using the Indian Tag abroad.

It is like playing US Open in London.

For gods sake atleast change the title from IPL to BCCI Premier League, but do not sell India abroad.

Our people/country made IPL popular and now BCCI wants to desert the country and its people for Money..pure Money... If the dates are changed they would lose money, so what, haven't they made enough.

Pawar & Co Politicising the issue is also a big Shame.

We Indians know how to create a giant and then kill it with our own bare hands. IPL when incepted was claimed by Mr.MODI as his mastermind which ofcourse was the exact copy of NFL an american football copy with a pinch of NBA. Neither of these games are hosted outside USA, they do periodic tours around world but just to create some fan following. As far as F1 is concerned cricket as a sport goes around the world itself and generates hype. Ofcourse what mr modi is banking on is wherever we go they will find indians yes ofcourse, but this form of game is overdose of cricket unless they stick to their basic roots.

I wonder how the franchises will be able to survive.

We killed the magnamous beast we created and the BCCI just knows how to create a team and then break it similarly how to create the best cricketing franchise and now stifle it to death.

I think right decision has been taken by relocating IPL. In India security has been highly vulnerable for the last many years due to insurgency of different groups within India. Lives of international/national cricketors and spectators are too precious to risk this event in India. I am not sure what impact shifting of this event outside will have on future tours to India by International teams

Every IPL team has at least 4 international players and some from other placaes in India. Hence how much of it is either 'city/home' or Indian really? It is now more like an Formula 1 racing team. So it does not matter whether it is played in. India or elsewhere. On the other hand I think we can view it as a triumph for teh ability of india to to create a international brand in a very brief period!

Seriously? If you look at world sport in general the most successful ones have always been city-based. Maybe you are right about nations, but I think you are missing the point here.

Menon's views are half-baked and sulky; he clearly belongs to the stuffy test-cricket-purist camp. IPL games at the stadium are a great experience, and city loyalties last year were fierce. The claim about continuous action being more important than who is providing it is similarly false; Rahul Dravid observed last year how it felt strange to receive virtually zero applause after hitting a boundary at the Wankhede. He seems unable to accept the fact that the IPL proved more popular than test cricket last year. I think this kind of sniffing over Twenty20 is silly and pointless.

This is completely incorrect, sport and national pride are very highly intertwined and to try and separate then is quite absurd.

Why is the example of F1 being touted here, F1 does not belong to any one country and does not pretend as it does.

Cricket on the other hand even T20 and IPL has a very strong nationalistic fervour and that gets impacted adversely when the tournament moves out of India.

Yes IPL is not a matter of national concern or it does not even represent Indian cricket in the truest sense of the word but to say that it really does not matter if Bangalore RC play from Manchester and Mumbai Indian play from Leeds is bordering on the absurd.

The IPL will soon be called the International Premier League. Finally it is good that the IPL is being played, whether in India or abroad. Indian's abroad will be able to cheer for their teams for once and it will be a great sight seeing people accross countries playing for different sides.
The weather in India will be hot and sultry in April and May, SA may be much better in that perspective.
I have a question, who will give security cover to cricketers playing the ICL or will that also be played outside the country
regards

Disaagree with you Nish re American sports. None of the American sports are big in South Africa, or in fact in any other country expect those that have very strong ties with America (Mexica, Canada, Cuba, etc). Don't forget that the REAL drawing card of the IPL are it's International players. Without them, it is just another Indian league, where those from outside India would not have cared less. Yes, supporters from outside Indai love watching Sachin and Sewag and Khan play at their best, but we also like to see our own players do well (Fro me, any of the South African players). If there were no SA players in any of the IPL teams, I would have not bothered to watch any of the games. Ask any South African which team they support in the IPL, and they will tell you the ones that have South Africans playing for them. For that reason, I don't see why it is such an issue that it is not make more "global" as it already has the best players from AROUND the world playing in it

'Cricket, by its nature, is conservative. But Twenty20 is only incidentally about cricket, and therefore is under no obligation to respect hoary traditions. This is not such a bad thing if the more things change (in Twenty20), the more they remain the same (in Test cricket).'

Therefore I say, let's cut T20 loose, send it adrift and stop calling it cricket. Let the moneymen have their money & let the cricketmen have their cricket. Two worlds apart in peaceful coexistence.

I will never agree, ipl should happen only in India,not elsewhere, that will be a joke.what is surprising me is country like India says it can not protect a high profile competition due to the election commitments. I am sure India can certainly give protection to the elections as well as to the tournaments. It has huge resources.

Mr. Menon you outshone yourself yet again! With identical self-complacency and seemingly infallible foresight you once wrote-off Ganguly, only having to bashfully admit that you missed your mark by a long shot. Apart from F1, name one popular sport that fulfilled your prophesy of rising above national boundaries, let alone time and place. The soccer leagues across the world may have foreign recruits but they are played and admired the most essentially within the confines of their respective national boundaries, much like County Cricket. Most importantly, IPL had to be shifted due to logistical constraints, not out of any obligation towards your bizarre claim whatsoever. As such, the likes of you should be well-advised to hold your horses about T20's role in overhauling sporting traditions. By claiming city-loyalties to be hollow you yet again managed to exhibit your complete inability to feel the pulse of the game.

I hope Grand Slam Tennis takes a similar route. It is just not fair to Tennis and others if the four countries keep hosting the Grand Slam Tennis events. Let there be a bid every year and let Grand Slam be held in four different countries.

It was a precise article on the way the cricket is going at the moment. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take IPL around the globe, as the popularity of cricket would improve as well as the expectations of the fans increases waiting for it to return to their homes. There might be quite a few brilliant players in underperforming teams who aren't getting noticed in international cricket and this is the right platform for them if the selctors of various teams could look in this direction as well.

@ Raj:
I heavily disagree with Raj.Neither the IPL cannot be postponed because of the tightly packed international calendar nor can it be cancelled because of the immense amount of money invested into it.The decision taken by the IPL officials is an excellent one.As an Indian Cricket Lover(if youre one that is) you should realize that this decision is taken so that the indian fan who would have not gotten to see the IPL had it been postponed,now with the IPL being played in SA can atleast watch the game on television.You should understand that the decision for the crazy,hardcore,diehard fan of criket in india.
I thank Lalit Modi to have at least gone on with the IPL>

This IPL may draw less crowds to stadium compared to first IPL but we can always watch them on TV. Elections should be given more importance than Cricket. This won't happen so often. No need to get frustated. May be, we can see more cheer leaders now....
To Anonymous, Don't be so rude, man.
What's wrong in using brackets? All are meaningfull, I love them.......

I am totally upset we cant able to provide IPL this year in india but i am happy to watch the IPL should continue in sf or England we need a good summer i love 20/20 match much more test or odi last year i enjoy the summer through IPL so i just tobe a same as.

Some of the commentators here have a very very short memory. But before holding them guilty of ignorance, the IPL season won was a hit mainly becoz of the people's amazement at the obscene amount of money thrown into the event and thanks to Shane Warne's magic ability to make it to the final.
Well, I take nothing away from the IPL players. But this concept emerged from Kapil Dev's ICL with only modification being using 4 under 19 players.
Did someone try to get a ticket to the matches last season. The starting cost was 800rs whereas a ODI match ticket started from 150 (Chepauk, Chennai)
People watched the matches more for the players than the team! How would you justify a final match between Rajasthan and Chennai happen in Mumbai else? The concept was loosely put together as a package my some money minded freaks!
Dont bother to criticize me for that the concept was good. It might have been! but in its intentions lies a cunning, ruthless, goonistic and unprofessional group, BCCI

It is IPL - first word 'INDIAN'... not SA, not English, not Australian ... Yes elite palyers join the English Soccer Franchises, local franchises do not go play outside the country. Totally ridiculous ... the reasons 1st is Greed, 2nd personal grudge(s) with politician(s) and vice versa, to move the tournament. Shorter version would have been acceptable to the crowds. How will IPL compensate the Parking lots, the commercial merchindise (items like franchise shirts etc) sold by them in the 8 (eight) Cities ... will these be bought at the same scale, even if allowed by S. Africans? IPL - should Stay in India, for all the right reasons !

WAW THATS GREAT,taking Indian cities abroad woooooooh.IPL-Indians r Pioneers!!! Listen.s,coming to the board,its their response to conduct the matches-hectic schedule 4 all, players ofcourse,to play whereever.franchises n sponsers,no matter they already bagged.k,cricket fans love to watch,no matter who plays,just love the game.Indian fans may miss the electrifying atmosphere,as their home teams play in thier front.but can enjoy thro live telecast.can be consoled,as the dates coincide with the elections.its acceptable,even we watch world cup n olympics,though India do not play.here comes the STAR FANTASY n no one will deny that.T20 can mesmarise anyone,may be an abroad trip be different 4 da players n be good experience for T20WC n make it intl recognisation.LUCKY SA n fans.but hav to wait for the time to answer many questions that rise in all our mind.stil this is a result oriented world.praise r curse according to the result,what u obtain.so we hav to wait 4 that...JAI HO INDIA N IPL.

This will be a great experience for domestic cricketeers who never got a chance to play in different conditions. I suspect many more stars are going to be born this season. Chuck de IPL

Ravindra,
Couldn't agree more with your views. One more point is that it could have been more interesting if the whole tournament was shorter. 59 matches are way too much for getting excited..!

I do not agree. Visionary or not, it ought to have been in India. Real shame, or should I say sham!

How come no one thought of postponing the elections???

I dont have an opinion how good or bad this is, but what strikes me the most is the audacity of the BCCI to take on the indian government. I would love to see sanctions imposed on the BCCI and the franchise owners. Well.. at least a tax hike on the amount spent for this tournament by all parties involved. BCCI is supposed to represent cricket in India and not patronize cricket all over the world. Why have ICC and pay all the unnecessary officials if BCCI alone can do the work.

The home ministry did the right thing. We do not wanna have some mishap happen, which can lead us into isolation like our neighbors.

It is ok, its only one season that IPL is being played outside. 50 years down the line, IPL might be bigger than the EPL. We are witnessing some historical changes here

Offshore IPL is just a desperate measure to salvage revenue at this point. Franchises have no other noble aim. Lack of local press coverage in Indian cities will be a big loss in ad revenue.

p.s: as other point out, your point about F-1 is lame. It was always about speed, never about nationality.

You use the formula one example, however lwet me give you another one. For the sake of what people know. We will use the English Premier League. If Liverpool plays Manchester United in Stoke, Stoke fans will not go out and watch it. The only fans that will come are for those two clubs. The only way for the IPL to remain in India and prosper is for these same type of loyalties to the team to be embraced by Indians. People in SA will watch it as purely exhibition games, there will be no long term benefit to cricket in SA or for India (or for anywhere esle). I have been sceptical of the IPL since icneption, i still feel that as the novelty wears off and Indians start to understand the powers that be are just mining their pockets for all the money they have, they will slowly stop going and the league will fail, especially if there is no city/team based loyalty as there will be no hardcore support element to prop up the teams coffers.

Re the comment about a fan in Yorkshire supporting Chennai: isn't this exactly what non-Indian cricket fans are being asked to accept anyway?

I'd say that having less Indian jingoism around the IPL would make those of us who love cricket without being indian (we do exist) more likely to watch the games.

The Mumbai terrorists have won.

At a time when we Indians should have been proving that India will not buckle under terrorist threats, we have meekly surrendered. The shifting of the IPL out of India proves that.

A point to be discussed today is after Modi saying that SA economy is going to be benefited. The will be around 10000 people who will be travelling to SA for IPL(Executives and Fans included), what about their votes? There are ads all over the TV and radio on the importance of voting, even TATA Tea jagore or something. They say every vote counts in choosing the right leader. Likes of Modi, Shah Rukh, Juhi, Preeti, Shilpa, Mallya,...etc will also not be voting. What does one have to say about that?..or has anyone thought about it?..

The IPL wouldn't exist if India didn't win the 20/20 world cup. If you watch english domestic 20/20s these days they are as boring as bat excretion...20/20 has a short shelf life, and I pray to god this move coupled with India bowing out early in the world cup will kill it once and for all. South Africans couldn't even be bothered watching their team play in a damn exciting series against australia....why will they watch a few has beens mixed with young indian no hopers? Aint gonna happen.

IPL played outside India, a welcome move as, It gives an opportunity to our domestic players to test their skills in foriegn soil swinging conditions (days are gone when we made comments like our team is Tiger in Indian soil and paper tigers ouside India), Second it eleminates a Lahore like scenerio even today I feel some skewed mind like attempt to explode a country made bomb to gain popularity accross the world in a day.
I would advacate IPL should be played oudside India may be England, Australia, South Africa etc atleast once in two years irrespective of security conditions in India. This will give us enough options to pick for our team which will dominate Cricket

I have mixed reaction to the IPL move. I feel that it was done too early. First the Indian Public needs to get used to domestic cricket. Before they could digest the concept of home and away matches, the IPL has moved abroad. I dont like the idea first of all of cricketers playing for different domestic teams around the world only to decide which of these teams they will represent when the big money is on offer in the champs league.

The BCCI has got it all wrong. They need to build a strong league first before doing the Champs League let alone moving the IPL. I just see the IPL as a domestic competition. Its not like the English Premier league plays its league matches abroad despite the Popularity of their league around the world. The IPL is nowhere close at the moment to being as popular and I feel that this move to South Africa is nothing more than the BCCI advertising itself. Lets try to sell cricket first to all nations before we matches abroad.

The blog is absolute junk. Cricket revolves around Indian fans. It is such a turn off for millions of fans like me to hear that it has moved away from India. I have decided to boycott IPL this year. It does not have the same charm if it is not in India. I hope BCCI regains its sense soon.

I'm not sure where Suresh Menon gets his idea that Formula One evolved away from nationality based racing. It was never about nationality based racing to beginwith. Even a quick check on wikipedia will reveal that:

"The first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors [such as Ferrari] followed in 1958."
"The first Formula One World Championship was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo in 1950, barely defeating his Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. However Fangio won the title in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 & 1957 (His record of five World Championship titles stood for 45 years until German driver Michael Schumacher took his sixth title in 2003), his streak interrupted after an injury by two-time champion Alberto Ascari of Ferrari."

Note a constructors' championship was around from 1958 and the first formula1 race in 1950 had an Italian and an Argentine on the same team but still competing with each other.

You present a very dangerous scenario. If cricket breaks away from nationalism, it will mean the death of test cricket. Cricket will fall into the hands of greedy goons like Lalit Modi and will eventually become an absolute mockery of what it stands for today.

I mist say that Mr Menon has got this one completely wrong. It is only in the individualist sports like Tennis and Formula 1 that nationalism is not an issue. But in all other team sports like football, basketball, hockey (Ice and field) national leagues are paramount often the only platform. Do you think US basketball or football care whether their sports should become international, leaving their parochial national leagues? There is no 'inevitable' course here towards internationalism. Modern sports follows only one track, that of money.