Sign of things to come
Jamie Alter
25-Feb-2013
AFP
Reactions to the sacking of VVS Laxman as captain of the IPL's Hyderabad franchise, the Deccan Chargers, has expectedly resulted in mixed views. Speculation of a massive reshuffle has been in the air for sometime, but G Unnikrishnan, of the Deccan Herald, believes Laxman deserved better treatment than the abrupt removal from the captaincy.
Laxman cannot be blamed if he felt hard done by the franchise owners, whose relation with him was not on the desired course from the beginning. First they utilised Laxman's popularity to the hilt by projecting him as the face of the team during its launch, and Laxman even turned down the chance to become an icon, so that his team could purchase big-ticket players like Andrew Symonds for US$ 1.35 million. An icon status would have entitled Laxman to a fee that was 15% higher than their costliest signing, and would have limited the team's purchasing power within the IPL's US$ 5 million cap, and still Laxman did not want to join the icon club of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag. The way Chargers forget that large-heartedness of Laxman was really painful.
Meanwhile, Nick Hoult, writing in the Telegraph, feels the IPL's phenomenal success has signalled India's ascent in cricket's global order.
The success of that tournament has not only heralded a flood of new money into the game, but it has also precipitated a shift in the political order of world cricket. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have built closer ties with the Indian board, evidence of which can be provided by their founding of the Champions League, a tournament that will offer another avenue of exposure for IPL franchises and has already realised more than £500 million in television deals
Jamie Alter is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo