In its 18th summer, the Indian Premier League is just tiding past adolescent churn. Its roots are deep, the accrued commercial heft is at an all-time high, and its monetary numbers find space in business dailies. And just like mangoes, the IPL is inextricably linked to Indian summers.
Yet, that opening fixture, pitting host Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kolkata Knight Riders on an April night at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2008, still remains fresh and also serves as an eternal template. This was Brendon McCullum doing Bazball even before the term was invented.
Shot of adrenaline
His 73-ball 158 not out was the adrenaline shot that a league in its infancy needed. Thanks to him, KKR pocketed that night and mortified Bangaloreans spilled a cold frothy liquid into tall glasses. A few old timers recalled the Kerry Packer days in Australia and how those World Series games eventually changed the face of cricket.
The IPL was seen as the latest cricketing product that could take the game towards a commercial space that was never ever imagined. The money on offer was of a kind that popped eyeballs. A dazed Adam Gilchrist said: “There was a little element of feeling like a cow. But it is interesting and unique.” It was his reaction at the time to the IPL player auction, which has now become an annual fixture.
If McCullum and the rest pointed out a frenetic path, there were also many who wistfully remembered stars of the past. Buccaneering men who could seemingly part the seas, laugh at the impossible, wink at danger, hammer sixes, knock out stumps and pluck staggering catches.
This was nostalgia, its searing footnotes keeping the heart racing. For the cricket-tragic, there was always this lingering thought: what if Viv Richards had played the IPL? Retrospective history with a twist, in a good way, offers hope and initiates a wistful sigh.
Triple threat: Kapil Dev was a game-breaker in all three departments. The fact that the IPL is largely played on Indian surfaces, something he knows intimately, would have made him an irresistible option. | Photo credit: Getty Images
But what is life without a midsummer night’s dream? And if in some way, we could look into a crystal ball and gaze backwards instead of figuring out what lies ahead, well the IPL’s monetary mathematics could well do multiple somersaults.
In 2008, cricket writers were still grappling with terms like ‘breaking the bank’. These were words that naturally came to their business colleagues filing reports on Sensex trends that oscillated between the bullish and the bearish! Rishabh Pant, who went for ₹27 crore to Lucknow Super Giants in the auction last year, holds the highest-bid record in the IPL.
But for a second think about what the mention of Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards at the auction table would have done.
Muscular swagger
Readers of a certain vintage will instantaneously recall his stride towards the batting crease. A muscular saunter, a maroon cap tilted sideways, a mouth making mincemeat of chewing gum and all that swagger before the West Indian genius, the greatest batter cricket has seen this side of Don Bradman, took strike.
Richards’ aggregate numbers are not in the Sachin Tendulkar range, that lone Mount Everest from Mumbai, and yet, Richards is Richards. To hold that awe even now, despite having batted alongside the likes of Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, is not an easy task.
Great players always hint at scripting miracles. They believe. And often they do. A modern equivalent could be M.S. Dhoni. At his peak, he would take a limited-overs game to the final over, almost telling the hapless bowler that now it was between the two of them. And, in true cowboy style, hammer those massive sixes and walk away in triumph.
Dhoni is a convenient lens being offered to those tuned in to the modern game. Richards was all that and much more. The laziest thing to do with both Richards and Tendulkar would be to dwell entirely on their batting, obviously their strongest arm. But there were other attributes.
Richards was an incredible fielder and his role in helping the West Indies win the inaugural 1975 World Cup is well documented. In the next final in 1979, he hammered a 138 not out that derailed England at Lord’s. There is also this little matter of Richards being a handy off-spinner, a skill that Tendulkar possessed too, in addition to his leg-breaks and seam-up bowling.
Now place Richards, who once scored the world’s fastest Test century off a mere 56 deliveries against a stunned England in 1986, on the auction table. Whisper about his catches, run-outs and wickets, and in a louder tone mention his name, and then watch pandemonium unfold.
Since we are in this zone of the hypothetical, Richards, be it at the 2008 auction or the latest one, would have caused franchise owners to sweat despite sitting in air-conditioned halls. The ensuing bidding war would have emptied out banks.
Three-dimensional icon
While we ruminate about legends, it is also apt to think about what Kapil Dev would have done to IPL auctioneers. The all-rounder, who incidentally caught Richards in the 1983 World Cup final and eventually helped India win the trophy, is another great with multiple skills.
Sharp medium-pace, agile fielding and a bat that could decimate the strongest of bowlers, Kapil, in his element, was a glorious sight. Plus the fact that the IPL is largely played on Indian surfaces, something he knows intimately, would have meant that most owners would have kept their paddles up for him.
Magnetic main-eventer: Imran Khan was sharp, swung it both ways and could bat at any position. Add his charismatic leadership and drop-dead looks, and you can see why both franchises and brands would have chased him. | Photo credit: N. Sridharan
In the 1990 Lord’s Test, with India needing 24 to avoid the follow-on, Kapil saw No. 11 Narendra Hirwani at the non-striker’s end. He hit spinner Eddie Hemmings for four consecutive sixes and clenched his fists. Look it up on YouTube, it is a miracle that had its surround-sound embellished by the grace and wit of Richie Benaud’s commentary!
Talking about all-rounders of the supreme kind, another star who would have broken the bank in an IPL auction is obviously Imran Khan. Students of international affairs and those invested in modern-day politics may laugh at this, given the absence of Pakistani cricketers in the IPL.
But surely we are allowed to dream about a peaceful border and an Imran in his final delivery stride in an IPL game. In his prime, Imran was much quicker than Kapil, swung it both ways, could bat at any position, drop anchor or deliver a sledgehammer, and, above all, led well. Plus he had drop-dead looks and spoke impeccable English. Brands would have chased him. Back in the day, he did model for Cinthol, too.
Just as the latest IPL criss-crosses India, also nurse a thought about the havoc Aravinda de Silva, Ian Botham, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram, to name a few, could have wreaked on the wallets of India’s leading industrialists and actors, invested in the IPL. Feel free to add more names; delicious idea, isn’t it?
Published – March 28, 2025 11:36 pm IST