Dubai: Going, going, gone!
That was the catchline in a leading Indian TV channel covering the 'Great Player Bazaar' which unfolded in the auction for the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
The marquee players, like the fresh and biggest of fish in the market, were off the shelves as a hotel in India's financial capital Mumbai, venue of the bid, turned the hub of transaction for Who's Who of world cricket.
When the Indian cricket board first mooted the idea of a Twenty20 league sometime ago, more as a snub to Zee TV and their Indian Cricket League, even the most aggressive of marketing men would not have been able to imagine the potential of the product.
It's very much to the credit of Indian cricket administrators (read: Jagmohan Dalmiya) who first showed the world that the potential of the game has not been tapped enough.
Lalit Modi, the media savvy chairman of IPL and one of the vice-presidents of the board, has now taken the hardsell to a new level in more ways than one - money, glitz and the Bollywood quotient.
Within a week of selling the franchises for eight teams to some of the biggest industry and entertainment icons for a total of $723 million (Dh2.7 billion), the BCCI sold the broadcasting rights for $1 billion (Dh 3.75 billion).
Then only last week, the IPL did it again - awarding the title-sponsorship rights for the league to DLF, a Delhi-based real estate giant for $50m (Dh190 million).
The business of putting the names of the finest cricketers of this generation under the hammer may look crass, but in hindsight, it seemed to be the only fair way to ascertain the 'best price' for a Ponting or a Jayawardene.
The harsh reality is that courtesy of the endorsement sector, it's the top Indian cricketers who make the most money, while the best of talents from other countries are largely dependant on the centralised contract system.
Money talks - and it's not without reason that there is already tension building up between the senior players and Cricket Australia over the clauses of participation.
Andrew Symonds, the second highest grosser in the bid, had already raised fears about a player's priorities once the IPL becomes a hit.
Is, then, the world of cricket under threat to become an unipolar one soon?
