After being set 166 to win in 20 overs by the Lucknow Super Giants, the Sunrisers Hyderabad openers accomplished the task in a jaw dropping 9.4 overs, averaging 17.27 runs per over. It was an amazing performance, but the post-game social media discourse was mostly about what the broadcast cameras picked up just off the field.
The LSG owner, Sanjiv Goenka, was in an animated discussion with his captain, K L Rahul. It was Goenka who was doing most of the talking, and the body language and expressions were clearly of a man who was angrily demanding an explanation for the debacle.
There is probably place for a postmortem about what Rahul could have done to stop, or at any rate stem the murderous assault mounted by the most destructive opening pair in this year’s tournament. But most agreed that the visuals of Rahul, a top professional cricketer being taken to task by an owner who probably hadn’t played the game at anywhere approaching that level were disturbing and crossed a line that separated commerce from cricket.
The line between professional owners and their sporting teams has always been difficult to draw. To expect zenlike patience and forbearance from owners who had invested millions of dollars and a great deal of passion is not totally reasonable.
The best-regarded owners tend to hide their tensions from the team, let professionals run the sporting part of the business, and are content to be ceremonial heads of that part of the business, leaving the executive decisions to managers and coaches. But Silvio Berlusconi at AC Milan or David Tepper of the Carolina Panthers are just some of the more prominent internationals owners who have crossed that line and tried to micromanage their team’s performances.Closer to home, at least one legendary owner in Goa football would insist on sitting on the bench during games and ringing in the substitutes himself.From the very start of the IPL in 2008, because of the auction process, owners have been perceived to have a far more direct relationship with selection. Players are bid for and bought, sometimes for jaw dropping prices. And while professionals were definitely playing a part in the planning, many teams finally chose to go hard after a particular player on the whims of their owners.
It’s easy to question the auction process, where players have little say in whether they are chosen or where they go, or even the price, once the reserve price has been exceeded. But that same auction process ensures a couple of important wins. First, that the league is not crippled by ballooning prices demanded by top players and their agents. And second, that one or two of the richer teams cannot corner the market by buying most of the top talent available.
These are important issues in a world where the Spanish La Liga struggles to look beyond its top two or three clubs, even the Premier League results are dominated by an elite set of clubs, and most clubs are struggling financially even with mammoth media deals for the league.
The IPL, currently, with all its issues, is a cash cow for its original owners, has seen 7 different champions in 17 years and even the 10th placed team can on its day beat the league leader.
So how does one right the balance between players and teams without totally changing the financial dynamics of the league, which are hugely successful and a template that is the envy of many established leagues around the globe.
One way that tilts it a little more in favour of players and gives them some choice in the matter is to give each player an opt-out card. That means each player has the right to refuse any one franchise if they so choose. All the remaining franchises can still bid for the player. The card is only known to the BCCI, and the franchise he is opting out of has to be specified beforehand by the player. The BCCI in turn informs the franchise who is barred from bidding for that particular player. To make sure egos are not ruffled, the information stays between the three parties.
If such a card was available, it would definitely be used with the greatest care, as any player offering their services in an open auction would not want to limit their options. But in those cases where that relationship was already broken, the player could decide not to tempt fate again.
And if one or two franchises had quite a few refusing to play for them, perhaps that would make sure that they improved their player/owner relationships.
It’s not easy for hugely successful business magnates to accept that their teams will not win every time. But it’s important for them to appreciate that the player is finally at the heart of this business, and slightly righting the dynamic between them will make a huge difference.
The writer is former team director of Kolkata Knight Riders
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