Bollywood stars, players' agents, company CEOs, former officials, selectors and international cricketers all gathered for the great 'Indian Cricket Sale' which announced the onset of the Indian Premier League (IPL) last Wednesday.
It all seemed to be some sort of meat market as Mahendra Singh Dhoni was sold to Chennai for a whopping $1.5 million (Dhs 5.5m); Adam Gilchrist went to Hyderabad; Muttiah Muralitharan went to Chennai; and Shane Warne went to Jaipur, to name but a few good buys.
The biggest purchases, however, were the Indian cricketers and, to the respective franchises, they seemed to be the blue chip brands.
In retrospect, Wednesday could prove to be a watershed for the game.
While many believe that the hectic operations conducted in the offices of the IPL, which one has to get through by passing through the portals of the Wankhede Stadium, were to secure the future of cricket, there was a bit of irony being played out simultaneously in the ground as well.
The final of the Duleep Trophy, one of India’s top domestic events, was underway. The true future of Indian cricket was on display and nobody was even offering a second glance.
These young men were in the quest to realise a dream, which is playing for India, while 78 international stars and a number of Indian megastars were preparing to encash huge cheques for their own financial solidity.
Small wonder then that the venue for the Duleep Trophy final was virtually empty while the IPL’s offices were crammed to the inch with everyone who mattered to the moment.
For many who have been associated with the game, the last time a scene like this presented itself was when Australian maverick Kerry Packer turned cricket on its head.
With the birth of the Packer series the purity that enveloped the sport was lost. A new era was born, an era in which the big boys played at night, cricket became a circus and the cricketers were mercenaries.
One hopes that the BCCI will take cognisance of this fact while splashing their millions in the face of any player.
Officials have put a spin on the IPL’s long-term effects by saying that the future of domestic cricket will now be more secure.
Well, the future of domestic cricket was on show, right under their very noses, at the Wankhede and they turned the other way.
