Is IPL the future of cricket? I think we should wait for all the franchisees to update their balance sheets after the current competition is over.

Have they made money? Probably no-one is expected to do so, in the first year. It was suggested by BCCI that the franchisees will recover their money in the first two to three years. Going by the initial enthusiasm, one might think that this might be true. But, this perception has to be revisited during the next two weeks when the novelty of the matches will start fading.

Will the crowds continue to patronise the matches? Probably not. The Bollywood stars and cheerleaders were supposed to supplement the cricketing gods in this concept. Sponsors for shirts, watches and cricket kit have contributed to the coffers of franchise owners. Owners like Bollywood stars Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta and the tycoon Mukesh Ambani were at the stadia on match-days to be seen how seriously they are taking the venture.

'The stakeholders will be laughing all the way to the bank'


But really they are only concerned about their business interests and how quickly they can recover their initial investments.

But, is it only about money? One of the ideas of IPL was to give the country's young talent a chance to prove themsleves. Bowlers like Manpreet Gony, Pragyan Ojha and Shaun Marsh have displayed promise even for the longer versions of the game.

Is the IPL entertaining? The answer to this one is NO. The cricket is mostly one-sided, with batsmen going all out to hit boundaries in the smaller grounds. The bowlers have no room for error and there is a feeling of emptiness.

There is no emotion when Zaheer Khan gets hit for a six or a Rahul Dravid gets out for a duck. Cricket is a game of emotion and without it, the game is neither interesting nor entertaining. It might as well be a match between Zimbabwe and Kenya.

A shorter tournament would have been better. The eight teams could have been split into two groups of four and play each other once home and away. The top two teams of the groups would have met in the semi-finals, followed by a best-of-three final. This schedule would have kept the interest going among the fans.

The winner of the inaugural IPL tournament is undoubtedly the BCCI. They have to be credited for pulling off this venture.

And the stakeholders will be laughing all the way to the bank.