Is IPL a damp squib?

My interest in the much-hyped Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket started and ended with the spectacular opening ceremony. It was a spectacle no doubt, but what has followed since then, I'm afraid, has been anything but a spectacle.

I know I'm sticking my neck out here with barely five matches out of the way in a 50-odd marathon and some audacious batting by Brendon McCullum (a record 73-ball 158 not out) and Mike Hussey (54-ball 116 not out). But then, so high were the expectations even before the event started, that anything short of a last-over finish should be deemed a disappointment.

Fortunately, that is only one side of the story. The other side is more encouraging: the IPL is here to stay even though some of us may not like it. It will be a hit and continue to attract bums to seats and eye-balls to TV screens even if the quality of the game and value of entertainment has been sluggish as witnessed so far.

And the reason for this is typically Indian where cricket is no less a religion and cricketers more revered than God. The secret behind IPL's success so far is that it has been able to marry cricket and cinema, the inescapable magnets in the minds of ordinary Indian supporters as well as aficionados.

At another level, the Indian board can be accused of bigamy as it has successfully welded a third element into this marriage - business. It may sound like an unholy alliance to the purists, but for a growing legion of generation next it's a convenient stay-in arrangement (for want of a better metaphor).

The crowds at the Indian stadia are therefore not there for cricket alone, or for a glimpse of a cleavage of the dancing girls either. Music and firecrackers are other added attractions (or distractions) no doubt.

But nobody can deny the fact that Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Akshay Kumar, Vijay Mallya, Mukesh Ambani and other top names from cinema and business can be big crowd pullers in their own rights.

Cricket and cinema go a long way back in Indian cricket, and business/commerce have not been very far behind. A few romances led to marriage (former Indian captain Tiger Pataudi to former Bollywood star Sharmila Tagore, for example) while others were not so successful (like Gary Sobers's brief engagement to Anju Mahendroo).

Top business houses too have had its links with cricket and cricketers. In effect, what the IPL has done is legitimise some of these alliances and commericalised cricket like never before.

But the question is, who will benefit the most in the long run and how it can be sustained so that it lasts its course.

Murmurs of protests have already begun with Shah Rukh Khan going on record saying that he was painted a rosy picture when the truth was remote from reality. "I have had sleepless nights over my investment in the IPL. I was never given the true picture and I never realised it was going to be so tough," the super star is quoted to have said in an interview.

Industrialist Mallya, on the other hand, is already looking like a worried man. Like his Formula One team Force India, his Bangalore Royal Challengers are struggling for sheer pace and power despite all the money in the bank and stars in the stands.

Like the first Formula One race of the season where Force India found the going tough, the Royal Challengers too looked out of depth in the IPL opener which they lost by 140 runs to make it a clear rout.

Other matches too have been one-sided and barely complimented the mood in the stands. At other matches, top stars have failed to fire. In between, there are the usual emotional confusion about fan loyalty and fears of the novelty wearing off sooner rather than latter.

Agreed, IPL has just begun, but it is also true that it has raised more questions than anticipated. To me the most important one is, can big money guarantee high value and top quality?

So far the answer has been a definite no. But then who knows?