To be honest, I don't really 'get' the IPL. Maybe it's because I'm an Englishman. Maybe it's because I'm into the more traditional forms of cricket. To me, it's always been promoted as glitz and glamour, the franchises mere playthings of the super-rich elite of India. The dodgy dealings of Lalit Modi and now the sudden withdrawal of the Pune Warriors' backers serve to reinforce my view. However, when attention turns to the players the IPL becomes more interesting.
I can't deny that some of the world's most exciting cricketers take part, along with many promising young Indian talent. Yes, the auction process represents much of what I dislike about the competition, yet it is horribly fascinating at the same time. I don't understand why some players aren't part of the whole charade and some are, but it's a bit of a drama. Many international stars put themselves forward, lured by $ signs and lots of 0s for a month or two's cricket, with much of that likely to be sitting around on the benches. For some, there is the embarrassment of failing to reach their reserve price (Jimmy Anderson, Owais Shah, VVS Laxman, et al), which must surely be worse than not having joined the auction in the first place. For others, there is the hugely ego-boosting outcome of attracting a bidding war and being 'sold' for enormous sums.
The most expensive player of the IPL 2012 auction was not the likes of Murali, Jayawardene or McCullum but Ravi Jadeja. Chennai SuperKings secured the all-rounder's services for an estimated $2million+ in a secret tie-breaker. So can he deliver?
Twenty20 is a bit of a lottery, of course. The likes of Gayle and Warner may hit a 20-ball half-century one day and be bowled for a first-ball duck the next. Similarly, the opposing bowlers may go for fifteen an over in one game and on the next emerge with four overs, four wickets for ten. At just 23, Jadeja has 50 ODIs behind him but only 12 T20 internationals. With the bat, his record is unremarkable. In fact he has a more impressive set of statistics for first-class than one-day cricket. Indeed his triple century a few months ago made him my Player of the Week. His strike rate in 57 T20s is a mediocre 117. His bowling figures are no better. However, attacking batsmen who can spin the ball and field brilliantly are like gold dust. The Super Kings are presumably banking on Ravi's previous 'bad boy' (or 'rock star' according to Shane Warne) image selling a few more tickets, too.
As I have written before, the IPL has been the first tournament to make stars out of otherwise ordinary slow bowlers, something unheard of in previous private competitions like WSC in the '70s. The likes of Ashwin, Mishra, Rahul Sharma and Iqbal Abdulla were amongst the stars of IPL 2011, and will probably feature strongly again. Sunil Narine's exploits in last year's Champions League have encouraged KKR to shell out £700,000, fourteen times the West Indian's base price.
The tournament doesn't begin until April so I hope Ravi Jadeja comes back down to earth in time to try and justify his price tag. Actually I don't think it matters much if he doesn't. The auction has served its purpose. I just hope that the IPL serves up some decent cricketing entertainment and turns up some surprise new stars along the way.
