Can the IPL retain its sheen?

To say that the Indian premier league( IPL) was a stupendous success would be an understatement. The IPL into its third year has so far managed to attract huge crowds to most of its matches,humongous amounts of money in the form tickets, sponsorship,advertisements etc. However, it has never been free from controversies. It all started with the hue and cry raised against auctioning of players. The second edition was blighted by issues of security and the dates of IPL clashing with elections and this eventually lead to the IPL being played in South Africa. This year the controversies surrounding the auctioning of the Kochi team has come to haunt it just at the wrong moment. The tournament is interestingly poised and we have around 5 teams competing for a couple of semi-final spots. However this recent row has managed to deflect attention from the on-field happenings to off-field issues.

All business conglomerates in India and abroad have realised the huge potential that IPL offers. The fact that IPL garnered about 3500 cr INR for the two new teams auctioned indicates the huge potential it offers. However, the billion dollar question is can IPL sustain its growth amidst all these controversies and still manage to stay attractive. My take is that IPL will collapse under its own weight. Just imagine the scenario next year. IPL with the addition of two new teams would expand further and thus the number of matches would almost get doubled to 94. Given the limited time period available to run the show it would lead to more cramming up and players would soon be complaining of burnouts. All players do have their national commitments and players would be more willing to rest their tiring bodies rather than make a quick buck. This line is already being toed by players like Micheal Clarke and Mitchell Johnson and soon we would have more players joining their club.

The other major reason is that it would lead to a saturation among the public too. People are bound to get bored with the never ending frenzy and a scenario similar to 2007 world cup would arise and thereby reduce viewer-ship and cause profits to decline and ultimately lead to the collapse of the whole league.

The IPL would be better-off if it can do away with its double round-robin format and follow a single round-robin league format wherein each team plays against the other team once instead of twice as per the present format. This would lead to a drastic reduction in the number of matches from 94 to 49 and thereby make the tournament more interesting. The other alternative is to divide teams into two groups of five each and have a double round-robin league within the group. The top 2 teams from each group can then proceed to semi-finals. This would bring down number of matches to 44 and the time period required would be much shorter and players would be more willing to participate then.

However if the IPL were to continue with its present format and play 94 matches the public and the players are bound to suffer and in such a scenario it's nigh impossible for the league to replicate its breathtaking success achieved so far.