Before the hammer falls

Never before imagined match-ups,head-to-heads straight out of a fantasy league and unlikely bedfellows teaming together even if it means arch-rivals from India and Australia sharing the same dressing-room. These were after all billed up to be the major selling-points of the IPL even prior to the inaugural season. And its held true over the first five years of the T20 glamour circus.

More than anything else,its allowed a bunch of ageing Indian and Australian stars to form unexpected bonds with their perpetual foes remember Harbhajan and Symonds at Mumbai Indians or even rekindle some legendary rivalries.

But with the nine IPL teams set for the three-yearly shake-up in 2014,IPL VI could end up being a last chance saloon for most of them to exhibit their supreme cricketing prowess on a local-turned-global stage. For,its unlikely that Dravid,Tendulkar,Gilchrist or even Ponting would enter the IPL VII auction as top-rated buys or attract many takers. You could even add Jacques Kallis or Muttiah Muralitharan to that list.

In eight months time,at least three in that list would be well past 40 with Ponting and Kallis getting there. And IPL VI could well prove to be a season of farewells with the cheerio tune resonating loudly whenever these fading superstars take the field across venues around India over the next two months.

Their futures in the IPL only carry an increasingly ambiguous look if sources in the various franchises are to be believed. For,according to them,no franchise except two-time champions Chennai Super Kings are likely to retain any of their players come IPL VI.

In many ways,the highly-anticipated auction later this year could well set a new precedent and kick-start a more contemporary era for the most celebrated T20 league in the world.

The scenario though was in total contrast back in 2008 when the owners of the original eight franchises bid for the biggest names in cricket during the first auction. T20 still remained virgin territory back then. At the time of its inception,the likes of Tendulkar and Dravid were rightfully awarded icon statuses by the franchises based in their respective hometowns. Ponting,Gilchrist,Kallis and Muralitharan,meanwhile,were the marquee players with franchises queuing up to sign them up,regardless of the uncertainty regarding their potential skills in the shortest format.

A bygone era

T20 cricket and the IPL in particular have come a long way from there. From being headliners back then,the 40-somethings are now more remnants from a bygone era. The 2014 auctions wont be the first time that the IPL teams will be put into a blender for a massive shake up. But in their bid to stir up the right concoction,the franchises are unlikely to stick with the tried-and-tested old-school recipes this time around. Even if it means the unthinkable like Mumbai Indians letting go of Tendulkar-yes even that.

And as franchises look to build a new team base for the following three seasons,its unlikely that the reputations of the yesteryear heroes or even the proven pedigree in the longer formats of some of the present lot will attract the same demand it did when T20 still remained an unexplored entity.

The out with the old,in with the new slogans though can wait another seven-eight months. For now,the cricket world will be well-advised to bask in the present and make the most of what the likes of Tendulkar and Dravid have left to offer in what could well be their final hurrahs on the IPL stage.