IPL is main reason for Indian Cricket team failed to defend T20 World Cup Title?

The Indian Premier League, abbreviated as IPL, was created by the BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India) for Twenty-20 cricket series and chaired by Lalit Modi.The cricket crazy citizens of India were delighted at the announcement of a local cricket club, which included International players too. The IPL had its first season commencing on April 18, 2008 and ending on June 1, 2008 in which the Rajastan Royals emerged as the inaugural champions.

Many would call it ‘Bollywood Cricket’ rather than IPL, as top Bollywood stars funded the teams.The IPL matches in 2009 were played in South Africa as the dates clashed with the general elections in India and there were security worries. Here, the Deccan Chargers were declared the winners.

BCCI and IPL were accused of being greedy for shifting the venue to South Africa, as many felt IPL indirectly proclaimed India as unsafe.The IPL invested nearly $121 million in five weeks in South Africa. They clearly would have reaped in a lot more in spite of the money spent in shifting the venue from India to South Africa.

Advantage of IPL is that lot of young, fresh cricketers from various parts of India now have a chance to play cricket with national and international players; it is indeed a good opening and exposure for them.With IPL, cricket in India has achieved a totally different look; cricket now means business and Bollywood.

Following are the team owners of IPL T20 Cricket Teams.

Bangalore Royal Challengers

• Owner - Liquor Baron Vijay Mallya (UB Group)
• Captain – Kevin Pietersen.
• Coach – Ray Jennings (South Africa)
• Sponsors – Royal Challenge and other UB brands like McDowells and Bagpiper.
• Brand Ambassadors – Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, Ramya and Upendra.

Kolkata Knight Riders

• Owner – Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Jai Mehta
• Captain – Sourav Ganguly
• Coach – John Buchanan (Australia)
• Sponsors – HDIL, Nokia, Tag Heauer, Belmonte, The Telegraph, Sprite
• Brand Ambassadors – SRK, Juhi, Arjun Rampal, Sajid Khan, Farah Khan

Kings XI Punjab

• Owner – Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia (Bombay Dyeing), Karan Paul (Apeejay Surendera Group) and Mohit Burman (Dabur)
• Captain – Yuvraj Singh
• Coach – Tom Moody (Australia)
• Sponsors – Spice Telecom, 9X, Provogue, Kotak, Foster’s, Coca Cola
• Brand Ambassadors – Daler Mehndi

Chennai Super Kings

• Owner – India Cements Ltd.
• Captain – MS Dhoni
• Coach – Stephen Fleming (New Zealand)
• Sponsors – India Cements, Coromandel, Aircel, Reebok, Peter England, Nivea, 7UP, Big Bazaar, 9 Cloud
• Brand Ambassadors – Vijay, Kris Srikkanth, Nayantara

Delhi Daredevils

• Owner – GMR Infrastructure
• Captain – Virendra Sehwag
• Coach – Greg Shipperd (Australia)
• Sponsors – Hero Honda, Kinfisher Airlines, Royal Challenge, Coca Cola, Adidas, 104FM, Wrigley’s Orbit
• Brand Ambassadors – Akshay Kumar

Rajasthan Royals

• Owner – Emerging Media, Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra
• Captain – Shane Warne
• Coach – Shane Warne (Australia)
• Sponsors – Kingfisher, Boost, Puma, Ultratech Cement
• Brand Ambassadors – Shilpa Shetty, Ila Arun

Mumbai Indians

• Owner – Reliance Industries Ltd.
• Captain – Sachin Tendulkar
• Coach – Shaun Pollock (South Africa)
• Sponsors – Idea Cellular, Pepsi,
• Brand Ambassadors – Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Anil Kapoor

Deccan Chargers

• Owner – Deccan Chronicle
• Captain – Adam Gilchrist
• Coach – Darren Lehman (Australia)
• Sponsors – Deccan Chronicle, Odyssey, Puma, Kingfisher Airlines, Mc Dowells, Big 92.7FM, Pepsi, Wrigley’s Boomer
• Brand Ambassadors – Hansika Motwani

Has it destroyed the Team India spirit?

I think the fingers must point to IPL. Their timings were entirely wrong. The players were stressed from playing non stop cricket. They hardly had the time to rest. Many like Zaheer Khan and Virendra Shewag opted out of the tournament following injuries. I agree with what the coach had said. Too much of the game is injurious to one’s health.Secondly, the Dhoni team would have been over confident. Being the champions last year, they thought things would come in easily this time too for them. Their body language in the field showed lack of enthusiasm and aggression. We hailed them as the best and first champions of this latest mini version of cricket.

Thirdly, the players have gained enough money and publicity through the IPL matches, therefore winning the world cup for their country was only a second choice for them.The cricket crazy Indian people and the fans of Dhoni had mixed reactions towards the team’s early exit. There were polls conducted as to whether Dhoni should quit as a captain. We Indians, gave a King like welcome to the team’s championship last T20 World Cup; and now when they fail it wont be surprising if we welcome them with slipper garlands! Cricket is no ordinary sport but a pride and prestige issue for us in the subcontinent.

Dhoni has proved in the past as a capable and matured captain and cricketer. This Landslide defeat should not however wither him and his boys; instead they must retrospect the reasons for their terrible defeat. In sports, defeat and victory are the two sides of the same coin. We need to back up Dhoni and his boys instead of blaming and accusing them.