Upsets in warm up matches have made the world cup more interesting. Can you believe Pakistan has won the match against India, Ireland has beaten Bangladesh and England wins against Australia?
Spectators are desperately waiting for exciting and nail-biting matches of fast-forward version of modern cricket. But these “upsets” helped me recall Shane Warne and Lalit Modi’s tweets which indicate how this world cup will move forward. Warne said on 16th September, “@warne888: Cricket followers my 4 semifinalists for 20/20 world cup.. India, Pakistan, West Indies & Sri Lanka. Who do you guys think will be final 4?”
Is it a “prediction” as he did about England vs India match in World Cup 2012, “My prediction – A tie” which turned out to be the accurate one and stunned the entire world.
Shane Warne has never been Paul Octopus but an amazing cricketer who is also famous for his “predictions”. He has paid for his predictions in India though when he and Mark Waugh “predicted” about the pitch behavior before a match. But his love for cricket pushes him to talk about future.
If you think, any of Warne’s prediction is merely a prediction then you need to revisit your business sense as Post-IPL cricket is a true business but not a true game. You need to observe which business model attracts “customers and the stakeholders”. Not to go too far, just to read @LalitKModi’s tweet on “nail biting” matches of IPL5. He said, “But we can’t say really what is tough and what is easy in IPL! Yeh IPL hay boss!!! Anything can happen!!”
Frequency of nail biting matches was never so high until the IPL started. And “unpredictable” is the most predictable ingredient of the matches now. It is not about cricket but about the Business Model.
I am relating this World Cup to IPL because of few important reasons such as;
· It is being played at a land which is influenced by the Indian corporate sector, board and media
· Cricket in South Asia means, cricket in India or with the help of India. SLPL and BPL were not possible without the involvement of Indian businessmen and Indian Board
· IPL5 model is the most successful business model i.e. having more “nail-biting matches” and “unpredictable results”. Pakistan beats India, Ireland beats Bangladesh and England beats Australia in similar manners.
· Such results in warm up matches are going to attract millions of spectators to the “real contest” where different results can be experienced
Unexpected results does not mean that the entire tournament or matches are fixed but the question is; why “Anything can happen” at this side of the globe? Is it just about the game or the stakeholders, or the spectators’ interest or about the external powers which make sure that nothing goes according to the expectations?
Warne’s final four are “India, Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka” but my final four are Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa.
I rate Australia and South Africa higher than India and West Indies because of their match winner bowlers. Any team can win a low scoring match if it has strikers. Pakistan and Sri Lanka also have match winners but India has always been struggling with its bowling and West Indies is also depending on Gayle more than anyone else. Imran Khan, Ian Chappell and Adam Gilchrist agree that bowlers win matches however batsmen help them only. And one spell of any match winner can change the results but IPL business model is based on batting which attracts customers and stakeholders more than any other model. Results of warm up matches predict that same model will be in practice during World Cup.
Warne’s final four, I am afraid will be the final four as he knows modern cricket dynamics more than me.
