Grade the IPL – There’s space for ALL

Parity is a phenomenon in life that we all crave for. Whether we get it or not, it is a completely subjective issue considering the fragile turns a human mind can take. But, all said and done, the satisfaction the universe brings to us with the feeling of equivalence is something unparalleled.

When I think of the Indian Premier League and the repercussions coming out of it, there is a dual turn that my mind takes. On one side, I absolutely think of it as a boon to a lot of youngsters who want to take cricket as a profession and are concerned as to whether they will be able to fetch a good living for their families if they are not able to make the cut. Also, it has provided a platform to a lot of young cricketers to hone their skills against some of the best international bets so that they come out as refined end products.

But, as it is seen in life more often than not, there are always two sides to a coin. The other side of the IPL’s gold coin is not as flowery as a lot of us think it is. There is a lot of negative impact it has had on Test Cricket, which is like the trunk of the tree and we all very well know – no trunk, no tree. Although subjective, the biggest demerit of the IPL (the advent of T20 in a generic manner) has been the judgment criteria for the quality of players. We have seen a lot of Test quality players being made fun of due to lack of athleticism during their T20 bursts and the non Test players emerging as stars. This piece, by no means aims to demean the T20 skill sets which in itself are a unique school of brilliance but there needs to be discretion as to what constitutes merit. Otherwise, the time is not far away when we will see youngsters taking up cricket focusing their game on honing their T20 skill sets symphonic with American sports cultures and losing the hunger to gain Test respect.

Looking at the aforementioned thoughts, it can definitely be said that both the worlds need to learn to co-exist. Putting a consultant’s hat on, I feel a root-cause analysis by the BCCI is the need of the hour. Considering consultants are expected to perform certain implementations as well, I have tried to propose a solution as to what the BCCI might look at while reaching a point where we find IPL complementing Test cricket rather than diminishing it.

The most pertinent issue surrounding the IPL especially this year has been the alias given to Ravindra Jadeja – The Million Dollar Baby. Although it has evoked a lot of jokes and criticism, his credentials of being a worthy 2 million bet is not the most important issue around here. What is more important is the answer to a simple question – has he done enough service to Indian Cricket to be able to be such a big star? The thought abbreviated even more when we see a Test match legend like VVS Laxman not even being picked which is absolutely fair from the franchise’s perspective. But such lack of parities creates a lot of unsettlement within the mindsets of the players and the fans which ultimately might lead to bigger blows than we can even imagine.

This is where I feel BCCI (considering IPL is its own baby) needs to take the ownership. There is a grading system that BCCI currently uses to contract the current Indian Players. The players are graded in accordance to merit and experience with the highest being Grade A followed by Grade B and C respectively. The grading system is self explanatory and it speaks for itself as to which players will be currently constituted in which grade, although a lot of subjective issues might be there as well.

What I suggest here is that the base prices for an IPL auction should be decided on the basis of which grade the current players fall into which will bring in some parity to the whole IPL setup. Looking at the previously mentioned case, Ravindra Jadeja who is currently in Grade C will be priced in a different module to that of VVS Laxman who is in Grade A. Although it is very likely that Laxman won’t be picked looking at history and his lack of athleticism, priority based categorization will do a lot of good to the issue of compromised parity. The Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs does not need to be explained here but there is a heavy space given in it for mental satisfaction. Also, it will keep the hunger alive within the younger players to strive for excellence and become better international cricketers.

As far as non-graded players are concerned, the BCCI can have a separate formulation of their base price which can be centered around merit, experience and other relevant factors. Whether that constitutes a separate grading system for domestic cricket or a merger with the current grading system can be judged according to situation.

The easiest thing we can do in life is to play the blame game – haters of the IPL can discard it on the basis of lower quality and fake fancy dramatics contrary to the haters of Test cricket who can use boredom and lack of time as their defense mechanism. But what we need to understand here is that both the formats are critical to the future of the sport. While the IPL has brought in the non cricketing fans to the game like never before along with the game’s globalization reaching magnanimous heights, the contribution of Test cricket is something unparalleled. From the preservation of quality to the real judgment of talent, the greatness of the players and the teams is all an end product of this outstanding form of the game. Henceforth, it becomes the administrator’s responsibility to nullify the misgivings about one another and realize that there is more of good in the world than evil. It is high time we understand co-existence is the phenomenon that has carried the world through all the intricacies.