Cricket's biscuit factory
Think of the IPL as a maker of biscuits (or fruitcakes, if you like) and the Season 2 migration as merely a means of staying in business, writes Sharda Ugra in India Today .
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Think of the IPL as a maker of biscuits (or fruitcakes, if you like) and the Season 2 migration as merely a means of staying in business, writes Sharda Ugra in India Today.
IPL's second season has become clouded in other issues like political equations, security logistics, a tussle of ego and territory but eventually a pragmatic, economic reason has sent it to another place where it will simply be less hassle to do business. It is a gamble, but the entire event was a gamble based on the Indian audience's appetite for instant cricket. So now, overseas Indians may well find their way to what is nowbeing called the NRI-PL but more importantly, satellite television should keep the TV ratings high.
Amid the madness that began with the Mumbai attacks and was further complicated by the announcement of the general elections in India, at last one can spot some semblance of common sense. The biggest credit goes to the IPL committee for acknowledging that they could not use millions of cricket fans and the cricketers themselves as collaterals in a bid to prove its organisational prowess, writes Sreyashi Dastidar in the Guardian.
Cameramen, crews and technicians in India were placed on standby yesterday, ready to travel thousands of miles in a scramble to ensure that the Indian Premier League (IPL) games will be on television for fans in the cricket- mad sub-continent to watch, writes Dan Sabbagh in the Times.
The smaller size of the country makes England an easier logistical proposition than India, although filming in Britain is more expensive. It costs about £80,000 to £90,000 to produce a typical day’s cricket in England, rising to £120,000 if you include extra features such as Hawk-Eye. That is more than in India, where a cameraman might work for £100 a day, compared with £350 a day at Lord’s. IMG’s real problem could be finding enough UK-based, experienced camera crews and production teams able to handle cricket if it cannot ship the Indian teams over cost-effectively.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo