Bad domestic cricket not the IPL responsible for debacles abroad

I would like to clarify myself in the start by saying that this blog is not against IPL and I believe that we should not throw the baby with the bath water but I presume that similar to the accountability we ask from every section of the society, we should hold the sportsman accountable for the abundance of love and affection we shed on our cricketers. I wanted to write this blog after I heard the discussion about IPL5 auction. To say the least I was very very disappointed and  very sad the see that IPL supporters are so mesmerized with IPL that you cannot be fair is accepting the bad with the good.

I have been an avid cricket fan to the extent that I gambled with my 10th board exams to watch Ind vs SL semi final in 1998 and if you are Indian you might know that it is huge as your whole career depends on 10th grade marks. I believe IPL is a good show but in no way a show case of anyone's talent in other forms of cricket but T20 and by that logic the performance in IPL should not be considered as a criteria for selection for one day or test matches. After the dismal performance by Indian cricket team in Australia a lot of IPL haters protested by saying that IPL is causing this debacle and I wonder why IPL affects only Indian players and not players of other cricketing nations. The answer was right in front of me all the time but I never cared to look at it. The reason is our domestic cricket which is very unimportant in our country as compared to very tough and media frenzy domestic crickets in other countries which put a lot of pressure on the players early on to perform and make them count in front of selectors and the cricket loving fans.

I live in USA and I have seen that even school and college level competition are very popular and are even shown on television. The rules are not changed and the game times is not reduced to make it exciting. The school performances gives them chance to play in college sports and college sports give them chance to play in National level competitions so when a rookie get a chance to play in NFL the selectors know that they have a good player who is ready to play with the big boys as it has gone through the extensive exercise and shown consistency and commitment. If the player does not perform, they are rested or removed from the team. I am saying this with confidence even when I do not follow NFL.This is the type of credibility, frenzy, excitement NFL has put in their viewers. For Indian domestic cricket I never hear any enthusiasm in media or in the fans.

BCCI claims to be a charitable organization who is making the sport popular but they are not making any efforts to work on the enhancing the pool of talent. BCCI should make the domestic cricket so tough that we get only diamonds out of domestic cricket rather than praying that in the pile to diamond like coal we do get couple of real diamonds who will become stars and save India's grace once in a while. I am deeply saddened to the extent that I have stopped watching cricket where in the past I could have gambled my whole career just watch India play.