The ignominy of being ‘Dada’

IPL has always been in the news. Good or bad. The 4th edition of the IPL is scheduled just after the world cup but the auction took place a couple of days back. It was expected to create news since the team owners were going to go all guns blazing to buy the best players at astronomical prices. It did create news but more than the players, it was Dada who created the news. It hurt the real Indian fan that India’s greatest and best ever captain was not considered worthy enough to play when 20 somethings were paid millions of dollars

It begs the question that what could have been the reason for not considering him even when 2 teams more were included taking the number of players being able to play to 160 (16*10)? Was money a deterrent? Sourav’s base price was set at USD 400,000 (Rs. 1.8 crores). Or was it a captaincy issue? Sourav though had said that he would not mind playing under any other captain of any team. Was Dada considered too big than the team he would play for? It seemed that the team that took Dada in the team would have to face public wrath if he was dropped after a spate of bad performances. The pressure on team owners to keep Dada playing irrespective of whether he performed or not is immense. Greg Chappel, Rahul Dravid, Kiran More and SRK would testify to that.

This though has bought a cultural point to the fore. Indian business has moved quite a long way from the Hindu Rate of growth. They now do not consider any growth less than double digits as an achievement. Emotional quotient was a big factor during the first auctions. It was necessary since the clubs were at a nascent stage and the local players were essential if you needed to make a team. Not any more. The individual franchisees have been successful enough now to go it alone without the stars but a fan following based on performance. The Indian business houses too are taking on their international counterparts and so we have seen a spate of mergers and acquisitions involving Indian business. Indians are regularly seen on the list of richest people in the world.

The bottomline though is that Indians never respect their sportspeople once they are past their prime. Heroes are made and broken in a span of matches. You may love SOurav or hate him but you cannot stop respecting him and the contribution he has made to Indian cricket. The Dhonis, Yuvrajs. Rainas, Kohlis, Harbhajans and many others have been brought up on a dose of Dada’s aggression and would blindly vouch for dada’s contribution to their career. He is a national hero and did not deserve to be treated with such disdain. But as always, Dada will emerge from it stronger and be prepared for a bigger fight.