No more Dada-giri in IPL
Indian Premier League (IPL) has often been an amalgamation of cricket and entertainment—cricketainment, if you may call so. Once you bring in the entertainment quotient into it, the presence of stars becomes pivotal.
While stars such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Sanath Jayasuriya set the ball rolling, quite literally in the T20 format of the game, it’s a pity that SRT is the only one retained, and is amongst those who would be in the elderly bandwagon. Much like the Bollywood stars who not only own some of the high-profile franchises in the IPL but also are part of many other commercial ventures in their lives, isn’t important to possess to star-value in any side? It must surely come as a surprise that they did not bid for stars such as Dada.
Cricketing skills apart, the presence of experience heads such as Jayasuriya, Gayle and Dada could lift any side. Be it any format of the game, the role of seniors can’t be ruled out. While many may harp on the fact that youth is the need of the hour, but never at the cost of experience. If Kolkata Knight Riders did not want the services of Ganguly, he must have been informed. After all, he is not an ‘uncapped player’ whom you can get away with a snub. Ganguly commands an impressive fan-base that transcends age-groups and no KKR could be complete without the presence of the Maharaja.
Having said that, Dada has been controversy’s favourite child and continues to remain so. No businessman will want to go with a player who comes with truckloads of ego. This could have probably made KKR owners and other owners too develop a cold-feet. But then, Dada being Dada comes with his own set of advantages and disadvantages. But set all controversies aside, the fighter in him would have come to the fore when faced with adversity. The greatest son of Kolkata may have made many comebacks in his glittering albeit controversial career, but the snub at the IPL-4 auction literally means the end of the road for Dada, the player. Trust me, not many, infact most in the city Of Joy will be sad at the turn of events.
The elegant left-hander may not be getting any younger, but so are many others who have been chosen to play. While Anil Kumble was smart enough to understand his limitations, Dada had to bite the bitter pill. With effigy of King Khan being burnt in Kolkata, it is time for Shahrukh Khan to get into damage-control mode and I am not very sure if the actor’s last-ditch attempt at offering Dada a mentor’s role will be taken up by the latter.
