It’s the last match of the Twenty 20 world cup, the Pakistani crowd inked in green and white are jubilant, Mahendra Singh Dhoni looks up to the heavens and Yuvraj Singh kick the dust as Umar Gul takes the final wicket.

India wraps it up with a depressing 157/5 in 20 overs. The Indian crowd in their sea of blue jerseys are hushed and biting their nails as Pakistan approaches its last over. 6 runs, 4 balls, 1 wicket left. All of India groans inwardly knowing that its over, Pakistan can’t possibly lose. While on the other side of the stadium, the Pakistanis are already celebrating their win. Then it happens; Joginder Sharma bowls to Misbah-ul-Haq who hits the ball with a paddle-scoop hoping for a chakka - sixer - only to air the ball behind him.

Sreesanth not missing this opportunity catches the ball with ease and grace, knocking Pakistan out of the race with a tight 152 runs. There was a grand sense of unity as the Indian team raced onto the pitch raving in mad happiness whilst the Pakistanis cursed the stupidity of their batsman who should have done this and not that, what a gift hindsight is. The crowd went wild and there was not one dry eye in the stadium, the Indians embraced each other and the Pakistanis replayed the scene over and over, only to realize that Misbah did not seal the deal.

This is Cricket. It brings together people from one nation to support their team, their pride, their country regardless of caste, colour, and religion. However, that is all changing. The Indian Premier League has brought a twist to traditional cricket. The national teams that the world over recognizes are surrendering to the IPL this year in another Twenty-20 round robin competition; 8 teams and 79 matches being played over 44 days. A mammoth prize of $3 million awaits the winners, making this the most opulent tournament in domestic cricket.

Like a ‘fantasy cricket‘ team, the IPL is a franchise-owned model where corporate, sponsors and well known celebrities can bid their pocketbooks, cars and wives to purchase the best players at absurd prices for their team. The eight teams are the Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Superkings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils, Mohali Kings XI Punjab, Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers, Jaipur’s Rajasthan Royals and the Mumbai Indians. The franchise owners range from Asia’s second richest man, Mukesh Ambani to the Baadshah of Bollywood to media baron Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan Murdoch. The players are household names; Saurav Ganguly is not rubbing shoulders with his compadre Rahul Dravid anymore, but is captaining the Kolkata Knight Riders with renowned players like Shoaib Akhtar and Chris Gayle in his line-up.

Although the merging of players from different international teams brings about a fusion of talent that could spawn exciting matches and nail-biting excitement, there is a sense of national pride at stake. It is quite possible that amidst the glitz, glamour and gargantuan amounts of money the players make through the IPL, they will lose focus on international cricket matches where India is in fact playing Australia rather than blending talent to make the most money for franchise owners. Turning players into commodities seems to taint the meaning of traditional cricket where one country always knocked heads with another in a fight to the finish. So who should an Indian support? And why? The lines are blurring, and instead of supporting your country you have to be knowledgeable about the players and discern whether you prefer Dhoni over Sehwag! This may be a great way to educate the population, however the true sense of cricket and a nation coming together to cheer on Team India regardless of whether one player is better than another, might be lost for good. Is that sense of unity we have when we watch cricket to be compromised? Only time will tell. All I know is that I do not want to trade in my blue Indian jersey for one that says Kolkata Knight Riders. Not just yet.

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