Biggest Gain from IPL

For me the biggest single achievement of the IPL has been the camaraderie between players from different nationalities playing under the same franchise. Yes, there was something vaguely similar during the heydays of county cricket, but it was not as global in the way IPL is. Things will get even better in a few years after the key players do a 'circuit' of the major franchises.

This does not mean that the international matches will be any less competitive. But hopefully they will not have that savage edge that one sometimes witnesses nowadays. To take an example: would the Symonds-Bhajji fracas have happened had both played for the same IPL team? Answer: No!

Perhaps IPL will bring back to the game a degree of brotherhood that we used to see in the 70s and 80s? I remember that during those days it was not an anathema to see the fielding team clap and shake hands of batsmen when they reached personal milestones. In the recent past I recall only a handful of such incidents. I would still like to think that these small considerations add up to make cricket the game that I love. I like to see the concern that fielders show when a batsman is down, either felled by a ball, or through cramps or injured while running; I like the fact that batsmen turn to the bowler to request him to tie up the shoelaces; I like it when during breaks fielders heft and inspect and swing the bat in appreciation; I like it when during a sudden break the batsman strikes up an animated conversation with the fielder on some random aspect of the game. It makes me believe in civilization and in humanity. It tells me that sport can be just as competitive without it being necessary to make the opponent your enemy.

I would very much like to see this kind of cricket come back on the international arena.