Monday, June 1, 2009

Will the ICC World Twenty20 Match the IPL's Hype?

Amrit Mathur over at the Hindustan Times writes of how the T20 World Cup will be unable to match the hype of the IPL.

I beg to differ sir.

Sure the IPL was awesome. It produced great cricket, great entertainment no doubt. But at the end of the day it was just an Indian domestic league.

Yes it reached the international masses and we loved it! But outside India, even now after 2 seasons, fans fail to pick one team that they back and why.

At the 20-20 world cup, every cricket fan has one team that they are backing. I don't need to tell you why that is.

Mathur then talks about the mediocrity of the teams and players present at the ICC World Twenty20 and mentions who fans will be switching TV channels when Bangladesh will be playing Ireland.

Is that true Mathur?

Let me give you this scenario - say Bangladesh beat India in their opening game of the T20 world cup, what happens then? Will you still be flicking channels?

Or will the Indian fans be glued to the TV set to see what exactly they need to do against Ireland to qualify for the Super 8s?

And don't tell me that the Deshis can't beat India. Its happened before; anything is possible in cricket; moreso in twenty20 cricket!

Mathur then says something so damn outrageous, it seems as if he's living in another world. He claims that the "Kolkata Knight Riders are stronger than half a dozen teams at the world cup".

Pause.

Go back to the link if you don't believe me.

Read again.

Take a deep breath.

Yes, you read that right.

Settle down.

He can't be serious can he?

Mathur continues in the same vein dismissing the games not involving India as lifeless.

The Indian fans are not the only cricket fans in the world you know. Sure they make up 75% of the cricket watching public, but surely the other 20 odd games not involving India will attract fans.

Maybe Mathur should have mentioned that he was talking about himself and not the general Indian or cricket fans.

He then talks about the 8 IPL teams and how each of them have huge support and fans.

Uhh and the international teams don't?

What are you smoking Mathur sahab - Care to share?

Mathur concludes his article with a question that he thinks is intriguing: "Without passion, especially for non-India games, and the cutting edge of serious money, will the event keep us interested as much as the IPL?"

Firstly, there is no intrigue in that question whatsoever.

Secondly, in response to that question, HELL YEAH!

In case Mathur has not been following the cricket news, I'd like to inform him that there were a lot of people who lost interest in the IPL around the 3rd or 4th week of the tournament.

I didn't, neither did the Indians, but many did.

By that time comes, the ICC World Twenty20 will be over. I don't see anyone losing interest in the tournament, apart from you ofcourse.

You have already dismissed the non-India games. Why watch it at all then? Why even care to comment on it?

I don't see how a world cup, involving all the international cricket teams and players, that unveils a world champion within a fortnight and a bit, that does not include silly commercialization jigs with commentators uttering jibberish sponsored lines... cannot be a success!

Make your pitch on this post...



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30 Pitched:

  1. Viswanathan said...
     

    I think the withdrawal symptoms hit him.

  2. Rayden said...
     

    That Amrit Mathur guy is bit of an idiot. He is lost in his own fantasy world and his articles lately have been a reflection of that - no connection with reality whatsoever.

    I know what he means by the excitement in IPL. But that I understand simply because I am Indian and as rightly pointed out by Q, IPL is at the end of the day, Indian Domestic Cricket. Hence even though I absolutely love it, how can you compare that with international cricket.

    I think the national pride in offer in the T20 World Cup will alone surpass the excitement of IPL. Besides as Stani would tell you - lots of people absolutely hate the IPL - especially Australians and England.

  3. straight point said...
     

    just coz one is international cricket wont make it full of excitement...

    the quality of cricket irrespective of whether its ipl or t20 wc will decide the hype...hence success...

  4. Anonymous said...
     

    Mathur has been a fiercely ass of a commentor since years. he has got a loose knack of speaking s**it and then gobbling it up.

    Abt BD beating India, thats a distant dream. India wont give a heck of chance to the minnows to humble them again. Lightning doesnt strike 2 times.

    For deshis to beat Desis, they need to play 20 full overs. Something which they dont have.

    IPL is at best a Champions League football kind event. It would never replace the world cup of any sorts.

    I wont get into a debate of how good IPl was , we all know how it was. But world t20 is 1000 times better than IPL cos here players play for their countries and as Yousuf Youhanna says nothing is more proud than to play for des mera oye des mera.

    Ignore Mathur. He is irrelevant.

  5. Q said...
     

    Ott: A bit too much!

  6. Q said...
     

    Rayden: Ur right abt the Aussies and the English, which is why I mentioned many people didn't like the IPL.

    I too understand the excitement of the IPL.. I too agree that it was an amazing comp.. but to dismiss non-India games the way Mathur does and dismiss the cup altogether was senseless.

  7. Q said...
     

    SP: i agree with wat ur saying, hence why derail the cup and say it wont be as good as the IPL, the way Mathur does, even before it starts?

    U say because its an international tournament, it doesn't mean it will be full of excitement, but the fact that its an international world cup, it automatically has a larger audience than the IPL.

    And I didn't like the way Mathur just dismissed all games that India wud not play - I mean is India the only country watching cricket?

  8. Q said...
     

    Sam: anything can happen in t20 cricket, I wouldnt be too confident abt getting past the Deshis if I were you :-)

    Yousuf Yohanna cant care less abt his des!

  9. Wasim said...
     

    Bangla boys have already sent chills down in the Indian camp. 132/3 in 13 overs chasing 219 against Australia in the warm up match.

  10. Q said...
     

    Wasim: the Deshis are surely making a very strong statement here..

  11. Anonymous said...
     

    BD lose by 38 runs. comprehensively beaten :).

    Doesnt say anything but the fact that they are going to be on same side again in the league games.

  12. Q said...
     

    Sam, they gave the Aussies a scare.. with Tamim, Shakib, Ashraful, Murtaza u cant take them lightly.

    I'd be a little worried if I was in ur place.

  13. Wasim said...
     

    Sam India has only scored three times 180 or more in T20 matches.

    I hope the Indian team is not thinking the same way as you are.

  14. Chullanz said...
     

    That guy is trying to raise i.p.l in e.p.l's league. but still i think most guys will prefer world cup final than champions league.As an indian ,cricket lover i myself more interested in world t20 than i.p.l. i can't see much fan following for each team.it cannot generate the same pain or excitement. we see that more as a neutral person..So Mr.Mathur wait for next 15 years may be u can prove urself true after that.

  15. SledgeHammer said...
     

    Guys, calm down! There's no way minnows like Ireland and Bangladesh could ever beat much-vaunted teams like Pak and India and completely throw the tournament upside down.

    Oh wait, never mind!

    (sorry guys, it still hurts me!)

    I think Mathur is off his meds (or on some, who knows).

    I agree with SP that it's about the quality. T20 2007 was a huge success - mainly because it had good competitive matches from beginning to end.

    If the matches are boring, and/or rain washes many of them out, it's success will be affected.

    And in any case, why does this guy need to make the two compete? They are two separate tournaments, each with its own charm and space.

    I know a Spanish Barca soccer fan who cares nothing about Spain/Euro Cup/World Cup, but everything about Barca/La Liga/Champions Cup.

    While cricket is not there yet, I can still see where some people are more interested in a mix of players from different countries representing regions. Others prefer the national pride aspect.

  16. smudger said...
     

    Did Mr. Amrit Mathur mention any where that he is the Vice President of Delhi Daredevils franchise..So i wont be amused if his article about IPL came out as a "Pimpsellinisho".

  17. smudger said...
     

    Oops.. I think Lalit Modi wud fit that description better..but its just a stupid lame PR job by mathur

  18. Leela said...
     

    Q,

    Like Ottayan said, the withdrawal symptoms have hit him hard.
    :-)

  19. Q said...
     

    Sam: I would listen to Wasim.

  20. Q said...
     

    Chullanz: ur not alone.. as I said, the WC being an international tournament has a larger fan base anyhow..

  21. Q said...
     

    Sledge: I think he's on the meds ;-)

    Good point though abt the soccer leagues.. but even today, I don't think there are any soccer fans who would say that these premier leagues and champions leagues are bigger than the soccer World Cup.. or are there?

  22. Q said...
     

    Duke: I didn't know Mathur was a VP of GMR Holdings.. I just checked that out. Thanx for sharing that info.

    And ur description sits fit on Lalit..

    Welcome to Well Pitched.

  23. Q said...
     

    Leela: a bit too hard maybe :-)

  24. Late Inswing said...
     

    Sam is right in saying Mathur is irrelevant.

    The average Indian cricket watcher has a better sense of perspective than such types.

    Modi/Mathur/Shastri would have us believe IPL ranks among wheel, fire and internet for the cause of humankind.

    Pay no attention to these jerks.

  25. Cricket T20 said...
     

    Nice Post.

    I agreed to what you say. No doubt IPL was a grand success in India and it was able to attract a lot of crowd, but it does not effect the place of ICC world cup. Its still going to be a big hit. specially among Indians who are eager to know if India will bring back the trophy as it did last year.

  26. Q said...
     

    Late Inswing: I have now learnt not to pay attention to them :-)

  27. Q said...
     

    Cricket T20: welcome to well pitched.

    I agree with wat ur saying.. I didn't think that even the majority of the Indian would be thinking along the same lines of Mathur.

  28. Fark said...
     

    Agree with the viewpoints here!


    IPL was quite fun and all, but the quality , standards and competition at a global level is different. The amount of hype and marketing would make 1 believe that the competition is actually "stronger" than it is.

  29. Fark said...
     

    ""Kolkata Knight Riders are stronger than half a dozen teams at the world cup""

    - Ajit Agarkar agrees with this .

  30. Q said...
     

    Fark: I agree, any international tournament will have more talent at display.. I dont know what Mathur has been smoking.

    As for Ajit Agarkar.. the question is, do we believe, what he believes?

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