IBL talks up buck,loses bang

No one was retracing the steps,or working the math backward,doing basic recces on sponsors and potential owners on really how much money could they put on the table. For a league with 2-and-half star value,coming from Lee Chong Wei and Saina Nehwal,and then the rest,the world’s richest league in this reticent sport was always going to be ambitious. What India is to cricket,China is to badminton — and there’s a reason why despite a crazed following for the sport,the Chinese,like the Indonesians previously — have scaled down expectations from their own leagues.

Duty lies in details –— when such projects are conceptualised — and from the embarrassing turn the auction took for Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa,it is evident that every nuance wasn’t thought through thoroughly. The IBL looks like it will make rules as it goes along,with Lalit Modi-sh relish. Suited cricket alright,but a dazzling adjective will find it difficult to replace the doing verb.

(Shivani is an assistant editor based in Mumbai.)

shivani.naik@expressindia.com