T20 cricket is the format of cricket that connected instantly with the general public and fans, and for good reason. The format is a compact bundle of excitement; you can enjoy and get done with, in 3-4 hours. There are fireworks of dazzling batting, almost to the point of violence. Most contests go till the very end. The format has transformed the game of cricket in more than one ways.
Ever since inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, we have seen a mushrooming of cricket leagues all over the world. It brought a sudden commercialization of the game much like the Kerry Pecker Series did. Organized in 1977, that initiative took the game out of its amateur character and made it a professional sport. These leagues will surely take game further towards commercialization, a pattern we have seen with other sports. Slowly, national competitions lose their commercial value, and give way to leagues between franchises based on city teams.
The base of this enhanced money-making is the fact that people want to watch T20 and it generates higher ratings. Because it generates interest in people, marketers get attracted, big businesses come into play and resultantly big investments come in. Hence, all these leagues are becoming big brands in themselves.
As money is made, it obviously trickles down to the players. The earnings current players are making in leagues are significantly higher than what national cricket has to offer. So it makes perfect financial sense that more and more players are choosing leagues over national teams. In future, the talent pool available to international cricket would be of much lesser quality. That is bad news for the sentimentalists but ground realities don’t care for these sentiments.
At least for now international cricket is very relevant, commercially and talent-wise. In fact it is facilitated by these leagues indirectly. These leagues have given many aggressive young talents to national teams. The current decline in Pakistani cricke, relative to other teams with strong leagues, may have something to do with the fact that Pakistan had no T20 leagues like other countries.
Fortunately this error will soon be rectified. The first edition of PSL will inject a much needed corporate interest into country’s cricket. It will not only help our athletes get much needed financial security, but also attract young talent. The administrators of the game and big businesses will also make money. And most importantly, it would be a great spectacle for the public. Everybody wins!