You Get What You Pay For

Writes Ronojoy Sen in The Times of India,

Do we sniff a hint of elitism here? Most certainly. Actually, Kesavan makes no bones about it when he talks about the Indian fan’s appetite for “coarse cricket”. The inference is that while there are only a few who can appreciate the finer points of the game, such subtleties are lost on the vast number of cricket fans who tune in to Twenty20. This in many ways echoes the debate on Bollywood a couple of decades ago. When we were growing up in middle-class Calcutta in the 70s and 80s, we were forbidden to watch Bollywood films. Satyajit Ray and  Hollywood classics were recommended while Bollywood was dismissed as vulgar. Over the years, however, many of us came to realise that Ray had his own special place; so did films like Sholay and Satya. 

Why rage against Twenty20 and the IPL as a corruption of the real thing and even fervently hope for its demise, as Rees-Mogg and Kesavan do? Far better to accept that Twenty20 is a different beast from Test cricket and much more suited to the needs of modern life. But this still begs the question whether unmitigated rubbish is being dished out in the IPL. There are many who would disagree with purists on the quality of cricket being played. [link]

I am all for elitism ( ) but I have to agree with Sen here.  Not only because there is no upper limit for elitism–I enjoy one day cricket; someone like Kesvan might think only test cricket is real cricket. But simply because as a mass sport, cricket cannot afford to be elitist. Why should the views of hoi polli elites–fewer in numbers–hold more importance than the millions of cricket fans who may not care much for the finer intricacies of the game but simply see IPL as a post-dinner substitution for kyonki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi? Why should their views considered less credible than that of the elites?

Many former greats like Sunil Gavaskar have expressed the view that test cricket must survive and it is the duty of administrators to make sure that they remember the longer version of the game amidst all the hoopla over instant cricket. Here again a question must be asked: Why should the survival of test cricket be a matter of life and death? if there are enough people who want to watch tests, it will continue to prosper. It cannot be run as an obligation. 

As I have said before, T20 doesn’t do it for me; I am more or less on the side of traditionalists. Neither have I felt any sense of club loyalty (Delhi has a team) except wishing Kolkota Knight Riders lose every match. (1) But unless ‘we’ are ready to sustain test cricket from our own checkbooks, we should shut up and let people watch what they want to. And what they are willing to pay for. 

1. Mainly to ensure Shah Rukh Khan shuts up. Imagine what will happen if Knight Riders win! All of King Khan’s buddies, Karan johar, Adiitya Chopra et al might be fielding teams next year.