If there is one thing, other than disasters, that makes the hearts of the Pakistanis beat in unison, it is the exploits of the national cricket team. Barely anything else unites us.
However, there has been so much deprivation of cricket in the wake of the attack on the Sri Lankan team in March 2008, that fans of the game despaired of ever being able to see the ‘big game’ again played in front of them. Granted that in these days of television rights and ‘offshore’ venues that surfaced as Plan B, they weren’t really starved of the game itself, but ask any player worth his or her salt, and they will say nothing compares to the high they get when playing in front of a stadium full of spectators.
Serious concerted efforts have been made since the Sri Lankan disaster to end this drought, but there wasn’t a lot of success. International reluctance was exacerbated by events that seemed to endorse that reluctance. And this isolation became all the more stark because of the explosion of cricketing activity all around, especially in the neighbourhood. The cashing in of the T20 phenomenon and the introduction of premier leagues served to be (pun intended) the proverbial game changer.
For various reasons, internal and external, Pakistan was late to the party. The nascent efforts to launch the Premier League came to naught despite investment into time, and resources, human as well as monetary. The wranglings at the Pakistan Cricket Board didn’t help the matter and the on again off again left the players and fans on the tenterhooks.
To cut a long story short, despite the out of the blue spanner in the works thrown by the MCL that tried to hijack the Pakistan Super League that finally reached the stage of fruition, we finally have the format in place, teams have been chosen, players signed up, and we are raring to go.
There is the hype, there is advertising, the ragging, the one-upmanship based claims by the teams revving up the proceedings. But what is needed to make this return of big time cricket a sustained phenomenon. What is missing? Why does it seem that there is something more needs to be injected?
Is that something not money? Isn’t money that makes the mare go? Why, when after so long we are about to witness an explosion of cricketing activity, are the moneyed parties not loosening the purse strings? The astronomical figures that are usually cited for television rights for other regional and international fixtures seem to be the stuff dreams are made of.
Is there a lack of confidence in exploiting the marketing potential of a tournament that is likely to engage the entire country? Granted that patriotism is not a driver of marketing forces, but just because this is a ‘local’ tournament, it does not mean that this should not end up being a profitable one. This, however, needs some risk taking by the marketeers which does not seem to be forthcoming.
Those holding on to the purse strings need to remember that sometimes little oxygen becomes no oxygen. Yes, this initial tournament is a test case. But if we fail this test the first time around, there may not be a repeat chance. Since when have our marketeers and advertisers become so cautious and stingy? This was one of the few creative fields that was not hamstrung by any ‘official’ cap on its growth?
Cricket is no longer a mere game, it hasn’t been that for decades now. It is a huge money-spinner that advances upward social mobility and economic uplift of millions existing within the concentric circles around the core activity between the bat and ball. That needs logical progression, horizontal as well as vertical.
Look around how the Indian Premier League has proliferated and totally eclipsed all else. Most of the inputs into making it so high profile have been by the Indians themselves, individuals, corporations and institutions.
C’mon folks, we know the isolation hasn’t ended. We are super grateful to the foreign players who have signed up to a part of what we hope will be a cricketing bonanza. We need those who can come forward and support ‘apni cricket’. Trust me, there are not many ‘others’ who will do that for us.
AFIA SALAM
Lahore
A few days ago we enjoyed a big t20 series that was between pakistan & Newzeland. At the first t20 match pakistan won by 16 runs. But the last two game they played very bad which is not acceptable because t20 world cup is coming soon.In Pakistan cricket board, a political environment is prevailing which is not good for the team.If you want to buy high quality backlinks then you can visit our website.
There should be no any kind of exploitation is any sort of sports. Specially when we talk about cricket. Pakistani people are so excited and passionate about cricket. It should be a fair play.
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