As a mechanical engineer I understood the concept of Force Multiplier from the Theory of Machines .They are tools like a spanner , jack or lever that help you amplify your efforts to produce more output with mechanical advantage . When I joined the Army and practised military science , Force Multiplier referred to a factor or a combination of factors that gives personnel or weapons the ability to accomplish superior results in battle than without it . Now as a Cricket Lover , I am taking the liberty of extending this concept to the field of sports and games. We see its maximum exploitation in the field of limited over cricket – especially the 20 over format .
The Kerry Packer Circus of 1977-79 opened a pandora’s box challenging the status quo of traditional test cricket . This new show also ushered in the commercial value of cricket as an entertainer game with television , day and night format added to it . Cricket lovers lapped it up though the traditional patriarchs raised objections. A shortened form of cricket as Cricket Max was developed by the New Zealand Captain Martin Crowe in 1990 and a decade later the marketing manager of the England and Wales cricket board Stuart Robertson wrote the rules and started the first official T 20 series in 2003. The first IPL at International level was played during 2004-5 and the World Cup in this format was staged in 2007 . The Indian IPL soon followed in 2008 with Lalit Modi as its custodian . Rest is history now , though Lalit Modi fell out of grace later due to reasons other than his pioneering organisational acumen . BCCI recognised the cash cow very soon and owned it , expanded it and profited enormously from it . But in the larger sense , it benefitted Indian Cricket greatly and enhanced the prestige of not only IPL but the one day cricket as well as other test cricket formats . Let us analyse this “ Force Multiplier “ effect in detail .
TALENT POOL — Indian cricket never had it so good – we now have a reservoir of young talent both in batting and bowling , many of them under 19 years of age . While the limited over needs a different mind set , it however provides proven talent to the test match pool with suitable training and reorientation . Many of the young players like K L Rahul, Shreyas Iyer , Rishabh Pant , Jaspreet Bumra , Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson have proved it in international test matches . Secondly , we were starved of good pace bowlers after the exit of Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan from first class cricket . We now have more than a dozen world class seamers , seven out of them under 19 with Kartik Tyagi , the youngest out of them calling the shots.
KILLER INSTINCT — The limited over game needs audacity , ability to perform under pressure with no float whatsoever from the word go ,developing a “ killer instinct “ in players . This spirit is necessary to survive even in test cricket now and this spirit can be tempered with endurance training as the players mature with practice .
EXPOSURE — In the early days of cricket , the indian players and that too only very few of them got any international exposure , especially facing the top talent from other countries . The County cricket in England was open to only a privileged lot .The composition of IPL teams with each team having four foriegn players in the playing eleven provides a great exposure to emerging young players . Who would have imagined ten years ago , Devdutt Padikkal or Shivam Dube pairing with top of the order players like AB de Villiers in batting ? -or Jaspreet Bumra bowling a death over to David Warner or Steve Smith ? . This exposure is invaluable for any type of format in the long run.
TRAINING AND COACHING — Every IPL team has an array of international coaches separately for batting , bowling and fielding and many mentors of repute globally . Added to this is the cutting edge technology using AI and other simulation tools for training and grooming . The Playback facility in slow motion available through latest video tools facilitate feedback enabling modification to one’s playing styles.
DECISION SKILLS – Cricket , especially the limited over variety is essentially a “ Cat and Mouse “ mind game – Batting order vs situational positioning , bowl or bat first choice , pitch report inputs , selecting and grooming the death over specialists for batting and bowling , Pace vs spin options especially in the power play overs , and above all picking the “ go to “ bowler and batsman are all decision skills which go a long way in any formats of cricket in the long run. The IPL facilitates this mind set and creates the necessary attributes of leadership . The IPL also provides a platform to captain a team to more number of younger players who become a ‘ reserve pool “ to take over captaincy of an Indian test team or a world cup team in the future .
COMMERCIAL VIABILITY – Thanks to IPL , the BCCI is today the richest cricket association in the world . The ownership of IPL teams backed by rich business houses created enormous wealth all around for the sponsors , players , advertisers , media houses and coaches , mentors , umpires , technical teams et al. Everyone is happy ! One of the undesirable spin off of this newly acquired prosperity created some corrupt practices like betting , drug addiction and other social indulgences . But such aberrations are expected in such a scenario of material comforts . Even the OTT format played in the Emirates due to Covid 19 restrictions with simulated audience created sufficient revenue for all concerned . A decade ago , no one could fathom a cricket player being auctioned publicly for joining an IPL team !
THE WINNING TRIANGLE — Harsha Bhogle , the well known commentator and expert of the game wrote about a “ Winning Triangle “ in Cricket – The Ability , Attitude and Passion in players – a winning combination ! The IPL- the Indian Super Bowl – provides a platform for this “ TRIAGE “ in ample measure to the delight of all stakeholders .
Saurav Ganguli or Sachin Tendulkar adapted to the new limited over cricket through sheer talent and flexibility .Presently Virat Kohli who took over the mantle from M S Dhoni leads the country in all formats with ease and grace creating records difficult for others to catch up . He will be around for some more time . The play must go on. His next Dream 11 will come mainly from the present set of IPL 2020 players . Tomorrow , the BCCI need not bother much when Kohli hangs his boots because there will be many choices to take over from him . A stream of young talent , blooded already in IPL , will provide the “ Force Multiplier “ effect to BCCI to get more and more winning combinations for the national team in any format right upto the World Cup .
References : –
https://www.chaseyoursport.com/Cricket-History/The-Beginning-of-Packer-Circus/720
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Robertson_(cricketer)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalit_Modi
Excellent analysis Harikumar
Excellent in-depth analysis and a smooth flowing presentation…Sir!
Thank you Ramesh
Thank you Vijender
Great read and good perspective sir!
Regards
Dhiraj