Wednesday, May 20, 2009

IPL Cricket, Election results…the game changeth?

The events in the last one week are perhaps the reflection of how the future will unfold!!

As an avid ‘orthodox’ cricket follower, I have gone through a variety of emotions regarding my impressions about the Indian Premier League cricket.

-last year was a novelty and so people watched.
-this year, as the venues were shifted from India to South Africa, my thoughts were ‘out of sight –out of mind’
-it’s a pure batsman’s game-more than ever
-even the telecasts were being shown on ‘entertainment’ channel not ‘sports’!
-commercialism at its crass-as some obscene bids/fees were on offer.

And as the 8 teams went about playing the league matches against each other, I felt, it was just a charade –of people going through the motions of showing up and putting an act. Among the 8, the leader and the bottom ranked had settled in – while the rest 6 were to battle for the 3 places in the semis.

Till the 14th May –when the countdown began. Since the 44th match, the IPL2 has suddenly come to life. Almost all the matches have gone to the wire- results being decided not just in the last over, but even in the last ball –on more than a few occasions with some heart warming performances-by thinnest of margins.

-the bowlers are making a difference. The best have been able to ‘out think’ the batsmen under pressure, and vary the offerings-be it the length, or pace, or even the bounce.

-fielders were no longer passive-converting threes into twos, and some near run outs-not to mention some outstanding catches.

-reputation no longer matters. You are as good as the last ball!!

As I write, all the teams have completed 13 matches-and have just one match to go each. And the mandate is clear for each of them. They have no choice –but to win –to survive and be in the race.

And its back to the classic cliche- no match is won or lost till the last ball is bowled!! There is no room for complacency for anyone…

( By the way did any of the old school keep track that England walloped West Indies in a boring one-sided test match while all the above was happening!!?)

Switch to election results in India-very few pundits had predicted the turn of events.The critic might contest that close to one fourth of elected representatives have a criminal record. Or more than half are ‘crore-pathis’. Or two thirds of the people are below 60years of age.

But the fact is that the old order has become less relevant!! Look what happened to the bastion of communism in West Bengal and Kerala. Or the dream of Telangana. Clout of the regional parties? There has been a total disregard for ‘opportunistic’ party leaders who came together as alliances without any strong ideology.

Most arm chair critics have been stunned to notice the overwhelming mandate for stability –which would help India grow to its potential.

The future is about to unfold…Can all of us see the writing? As job seekers, recruiters and HR professionals, are we taking stock if we are still living in a time warp? Can we learn from whats happening around us? Are we making ourselves more relevant? Can we lump some bitter truth and become real??

What got us here-will certainly not get us ‘there’!!

We may be reduced to being spectators..if we do not become the ‘game changers’!!

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