07 June,2026 10:19 AM IST | Mumbai | Sunil Gavaskar
RCB’s Virat Kohli during his 75 not out in the IPL final against Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad recently. Pic/IPL
Firstly, huge congratulations to first Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty for their triumph in the Singapore Open badminton tournament. They had been playing brilliantly throughout but were stumbling at the last hurdle and so it was great to see them emerge as winners once again. Badminton is such a fast-paced sport that very seldom has a player or a pair dominated by winning almost every tournament. You find new names as winners practically every week.
Later that same evening, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru defended their crown and won the IPL for the second year in succession to match what Chennai and Mumbai Indians had done earlier. Right from the first game, the Bengaluru team played like the champions they were and apart from the odd hiccup, which is part of the T20 format, they never looked in any trouble whatsoever. They had such a well-balanced team and with Kohli in superb form once more and being the energy source for the team, and the calm methods of Rajat Patidar, the skipper, they looked ready to take on the world.
A lot of other city T20 leagues have just started and there will be some good performers there, but it would be important to see the opposition, the pitches and the boundary sizes before thinking they are going to be world beaters. Ideally, for these players to get noticed by the IPL franchises, these tournaments should be closer to the December auction. As it is, with the monsoon round the corner, the organisers are taking a huge chance now, so why not use the second half of September to play these tournaments so their boys could be in with a good chance of being picked for the IPL as the performances would be more remembered than what happened in early June.
Be that as it may, it was a terrific IPL once again though perhaps a little too batting friendly, because the pitches were so good even in the month of May when with the heat they are expected to get drier and help the spinners a lot more.
With the heat getting more intense every year, it might well be worth considering playing the Eliminator on Tuesday and the Qualifier between the top 2 teams on Wednesday. Then Qualifier 2 on Friday and the Final as always on a Sunday.
This way, if teams that end up third and fourth and get to the final, they don't have to play three back-to-back matches in five days in this heat, but get an extra day's rest as they play the Eliminator first on Tuesday.
Even as Day One of the only Test between India and Afghanistan gets underway, the first Test between England and New Zealand is finishing with a whimper. Thirty-three wickets have fallen on the first two days at Lord's, the home of English cricket, yet there's hardly any word of rebuke from all those who make a career out of having a go at Indian pitches. Yes sir, no former player and none of the wordsmiths from the old powers have had much to say. After all it's inept batting and nothing to do with the pitch, isn't it? If you can't play the moving ball on a cow grazing field masquerading as a cricket pitch, why blame the playing area. If you can't play the bouncing ball on a trampoline, disguised as a bouncy pitch, in Australia then the pitch isn't to blame. It's the batter's faulty technique and fragile temperament, so we are given to understand.
But lo and behold, if the pitch affords spin from Day One in India these very guys will be the ones doing their cardio jumping up and down and calling it a dust bowl and what not. Not a word about technique and ability. Hypocrites masquerading as experts, that's what they are.
Indian cricket and BCCI bashing is par for the course. But when it comes to revenues, they still have to come to the BCCI because it is Indian cricket and Indian fans that fill their coffers much more than even what their traditional rivalry does.
Cribbing about IPL and their players not being available for their country is another favourite pastime. Not a word though about the 10% their Boards get of the fee of every player from their country. It adds up to a cool million plus pounds every year. Does The Hundred give any percentage to the Boards of their overseas players playing in their tournament? No sir. Does the BBL or any other country T20 leagues give any percentage to the Boards of their overseas players. No sir again. Only the IPL does. Yet the whinging and moaning about BCCI and Indian cricket just goes on and on.
Wake up and smell the coffee guys. Indian cricket is here to stay, no matter how you try to pull it down.
Professional Management Group
