Big hits, sixes all over the boundary, thrill, action, excitement, cheerleaders, big banners, advertisements, booze, fag, bollywood beauties, million dollars, betting, TRPs, smart cricketers in smart jerseys… That’s what we call IPL! A perfect amalgamation of glamour with cricket!

Let us dig into the past and freshen up our memories on what actually happened in earlier IPLs. Sit back, relax and cherish some of the strange or what we call “Kewl” Controversies!

• Sree-Harbhajan slapgate: Remember SreeSanth getting a huge slap on his face by his Indian teammate Bhajji during a clash between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab? Of course, who can forget that? The controversy still prevails in their blood and holds the tendency to give us goose bumps ever single time we think about the incident! Poor Bhajji had to face a ban for the rest of the series!
• It is India, country of gods and religion! And here we are, playing in the midst of half naked, creepily dressed cheerleaders, distracting audience as well as players from their primary motto! Of course, the issue was bound to create controversy! And it surely did. Vijay Mallya brought in the concept of cheerleaders in action, and soon everyone followed! The political leaders even went on to call them “worse than bar dancers.”
• The presence of “racism” in IPL was seen as one of the critical facets in IPL. Two UK cheerleaders claimed that they were called “Negroes” and were ruled out of IPL matches!
• Who can forget the famous battle between Sourav Ganguly and KKR coach John Buchanan? Also, his theory of multiple captains (four formula) played a huge role in creating controversies in previous IPLs! I mean, that theory was really weird.
• KKR was also decked with another issue: a clash between Shah Rukh Khan and Sourav over various issues, including team selection.
• The funniest situation was when the last and second last teams of IPL1 went on to the play the finals in the IPL2. Here we are talking about Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers Bangalore!
• In another controversy, the owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore sacked its CEO Charu Sharma and took the captaincy from Rahul Dravid after a poor performance from their so called Test team in the first session. Rahul Dravid replied back with full anguish and went on to become one of the best run getters in the second session of IPL! The performance helped him to gain his slot back in the One Day Internationals, but it didn’t last long!
• Ya! I remember one more! Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan was barred from visiting team’s dressing room! That created a lot of controversy!

Guys, you have more to share? Do let us know! The “Comment Feed” is waiting for your replies! HOWWZZAAAT?

Let us face it guys! The crowd is lacking the buzz, the rush for IPL tickets is low and people are not even discussing about IPL3, the way it was being discussed in the first two IPLs!

Okay, let us discuss some of the facets that may come into play in making IPL, a NOT MUCH talked show of the town! Have a look:

• The first factor would be the threat of terrorism revolving around one of the biggest sporting events. With the plus point that it is happening in India, the negative point can be that India never lags behind when it comes to unexpected terrorist activities, which may happen anytime, anywhere!
• It is happening in March: The most unwanted phase of a year for students! Guys, they face their exams. Will their parents allow them to stick to their TV screens from 4pm to 12am regularly? No!
• The ticket prices are hiking every single moment. While the price of one ticket for the Hockey World Cup held in Delhi was as low as 50 bucks, the same may go as high in thousands, especially when you have some of the craziest fans in India, who can kill anyone just to get a glimpse of their favorite cricketers.
• We all know that Pakistani players are not participating in the IPL3, but don’t you think that their presence would be missed in the matches? The stupendous batting of Shahid Afridi, the killing bowling of Umar Gul, to name a few, would surely be missed this time!
• What next? The marriage between the IPL3 and YouTube may not be seen in a favorable light as not many audiences would show patience while the video is buffering and your favorite player is on the crease! At least, I won’t!

These are some of the factors! Let us see what the future has in store for the fate of IPL3!

Hey Cricket Crazy people! Do you have some more similar instances to share? Feel free to share with us!

Cricket and India are two terms which go hand in hand! Since the inception of the IPL, it could easily be said that fanaticism for cricket has gone to the next level. With the masses already crazy for the sport, it becomes easy for the implementation and thus, creating brands for these teams.

The best example for this is the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The brand strategy implemented has made the team the richest amongst all its contenders. This is despite its streak of poor performances at the IPL matches. The team has been deduced to have a brand valuation worth of US$ 42.1 million in 2009. This is as per Intangible Business which is a leading international brand valuation firm in UK. The study was conducted in association with MTI Consulting.

So what makes this team so valuable inspite of its delineating performances? What is the key factor for this team to create an image amidst all the winning glory being taken by its competitors?

The answer is simple…Play It Right! Winning is just one aspect of a game in sports. The more important factor is that the team must be known. The team should be easily related to by the locals and the masses. This is where branding comes in.

In case of KKR, be it the FakeIPLPlayer blog or the reality show for the cheerleaders, the audience had something or the other to lookout for. It has to be agreed that controversy is good for a healthy team. However, it has to be ensured that there is a balance being maintained. More so, it should be in the news for the right reasons.

Another important factor is that KKR already came into existence with certain pre-requisites. These include the team owner Shah Rukh Khan and the captain Sourav Ganguly. Here, the important factor was for the audiences to connect which was easily possible with the two icons of the country. They are someone who are brands in themselves and strike a chord with the general public. So, with them in hand, it is not very hard to create an effective marketing communications or a public relations strategy.

It has to be remembered that the public memory is very short…so it is easy and expected to forget who won or lost a game, but brands are something which remain alive forever. So if a brand is alive, so is the team and its commercial success. Because change is constant!

All in all, brand values could be defined as a forecast predicting the capability of a brand to generate income in the future. It is study which looks into the past performances to generate trends for the future.

Note – The above story is based on the previous two seasons of IPL and it is yet to be seen on how the team performs and where it stands in the coming season.

Following the series of racial attacks, Shiv Sena has already barred Aussie cricketers from playing in Maharashtra. Echoing the same sentiments, Sena supremo Bal Thackeray again targeted Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan for his statements in support to selecting Pakistani cricketers in the IPL auction. Thackeray confirmed that he has announced the ban with respect to the racial attacks that have been performed on Indian students in the land of Kangaroos.

Talking about Khan’s movie “MY NAME IS KHAN,” Thackeray said that he has no opposition for the movie, but expressed his concerns that when Pakistan had been blocked out from India, Shah Rukh has no right to express his involvemnet for the players of Pakistan, as he himself belongs to India! Thackeray went on to criticize the Congress for supporting Shah Rukh on this entire issue of backing the Pakistani cricketers.

In another news piece, New South Wales cricket administrator, Dr Gorur Krishna Harinath, has affirmed the Oz cricketers should not get apprehensions about the recent declaration by Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and asked them to participate in the upcoming IPL with full spirits.

According to Sydney Morning Herald, Dr Harinath said confirmed that Sharad Pawar, along with BBCI president held a meeting with one of Shiv Senas representations, who agreed on looking at the plans all over again.

He further added that cricket fans in India are eager to watch some of the best cricketers in the world as they too want them to play in India in the upcoming IPL. The common man just loves cricket and will not see the lines coming in from Shiv Sena!