During the trading window, Rajasthan Royals sold their power performer LPR Taylor to Delhi Daredevils (for handsome money I suppose). Then the owners attempted to shed some of their stakes to book serious profit. A move triggered in the assumption that IPL 2012 could bring more loss than revenue?
Pune Warriors did not participate in the auction and also did not benefit much from the trading window. But the Management wisely appointed Sourav Ganguly at the helm of affairs to lead a weak troupe. A big gamble that could pay off with Ganguly leadership else an able scapegoat nominated to take the hit? (Ganguly lead the side poorly is a different story). All will be well when Ganguly is fired for the failures.
Deccan Chargers is already a team with poor track record in the recent years. Traded the big guns like Kevin Pieterson and Pragyan Ojha in the trading window (again for handsome money I suppose). Also did not retain Rohit Sharma in the auction held in 2011. The moves intended to make revenue from the business model, rather build a team for the future? With the current Deccan squad, failures are better prospects than success, which it proved to be. Probably the reason Deccan had multiple home grounds as Hyderabad, Vizag and Cuttack compared to any other team in IPL. Each of these stadiums hosting 3 matches on average should be good enough to lure crowd to take glimpse of the visiting stars if not to cheer the home team. Did the strategy payoff?
Ganguly not in good terms with Chappell lead to his exit from Team India. Again, poor terms with former owner Shah Rukh Khan lead to his exit from Knight Riders. Good or bad terms, exit (player and captain) is pretty much on cards from Warriors too. Where will he go from here? If after the snub, would he still prefer a coaching job with Warriors? Would he go back to his roots and be associated with Kolkata Knight Riders? Probably, commentary would be a better option. The least he could avoid contraversies and speculations.
Teams keep their purse big (especially Deccan, Royals, Kings XI), do big buys in auction, then trade them for even bigger price in Trading Window (no cap). Better business opportunity with in the business model of IPL. Eventually those who bought these big fish only bench them.
I don’t believe IPL games are fixed, At times, I get a feeling that teams purposefully took the game to the last over to ensure tight finishes. It could be an attempt to boost the TRP ratings. Not sure if the trend will continue from here as many teams might tie on points and probably the run rate will decide their fate in the playoffs. Finally, time has arrived where tight finishes may not be the norm of the day.
Dinesh
Cricket Lover
" I get a feeling that teams purposefully took the game to the last over to ensure tight finishes. It could be an attempt to boost the TRP ratings. " - this is called fixing.
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