5 reasons why the IPL is losing its global sheen

2) Too much Bollywood

Shah Rukh Khan has been part of the IPL since the first season

It is no doubt that cricket and Bollywood are two of the biggest entertainment industries in India. But given the fact that the top-notch cricketers seem to enjoy a status that is equal to that of the Bollywood stars, if not higher, why does cricket often want a piggyback ride on the back of Bollywood stars?

The opening ceremony of the IPL looked more like a Bollywood concert than a sporting ceremony. Often Bollywood stars are appointed as brand ambassadors of teams, allegedly to promote their respective teams.

In a country where cricket is revered as a religion, where cricket has infiltrated into every nook and corner of both cities and villages, it is bemusing to think that cricket needs an advertiser in the form of Bollywood. As cricketers promote various causes within India, why is there a need to promote cricket?

It also begs the question, who promotes whom in the IPL. Being a non-Indian, I would not have got to know most of these Bollywood stars, had it not been for the IPL. Is there a mutual understanding between the two industries to scratch each other’s back, each industry grows not at the expense of the other?

In the face of fans being criticised for abusing, even at times fastidiously reviled for passing a few jokes about Anushka Sharma’s affair with Virat Kohli, the Bollywood heroine, and Salman Khan found their way into the pre-match ‘analysis’ of the official broadcasters of the tournament, apparently to promote their upcoming movie venture. What did they have to offer to a cricket show?