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Why the IPL is in crying need of a disruptive innovation?

IPL or Indian Premier League for 20-over cricket is a timely innovation for the cricket crazies of the sub-continent. Yours truly had a revulsion towards it in the first year as I felt it was too much of a hype or "tamaasha". Eventually, the public and the media have moved on from their obsession with the celebrity owners, skimpily-clad cheerleaders, the who's who of spectators, and the charismatic Lalit "limelight" Modi and started to focus somewhat seriously on the game. This has made it a little more fun to watch as we can see from the tough fight put up for the top 2 (and 4) spots this year. May be the huge controversies that erupted last year over the expansion and eventual exit of Lalit Modi has quietened down the non-cricket extra-curriculars and made everyone keep a low profile and focus on the game. This is great news but with millions of dollars invested and massive viewership and advertising revenues at stake, IPL is in crying need for yet another reinvention of sorts or at least another small incremental but disruptive innovation.

What could that be? There are always the rules to play around with and am sure the pundits are hard at work to see what they can tweak next : 10 over innings with 2 innings per side, pink balls, shorter pitches, longer pitches, smaller balls (yeah!), wider bats, 2 bouncers, 2 boundary lines (a shorter one for 4s and a longer one for 5s (yes, why not!!?) and 6s), etc etc. Too boring........ right?

Let's shift gears and look at a big revolution that the IPL has quietly ushered in. While the Test and One-day International cricket remains a game that only men overwhelmingly watch (who else would stay glued both to the couch and the TV for 7-8 hours), IPL had disrupted that paradigm. It  suddenly got women to get interested and keyed into cricket in very large numbers. Could it have been the high profile women owners - Nita Ambani, Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty, or even Sunanda Pushkar (A ha!). Nah!! My sense is that it is simply due to the short duration of the matches (3 hours) with intense violence-free action, drama, quick twists and turns not to mention some suspense of the ending. Get the picture??

So what could be a great innovation that could get more women hooked and expand viewership massively? (Men are already hooked for several non-cricketing reasons apart from the cricket anyway).

How about this...... ? IPL should force each team to have at least 2 gals in the playing eleven and at least 3 in each team. Am sure there are enough high-quality women players around, including foreign players. Imagine what it could do to Women's cricket the world over. Imagine what an image make-over it would be for the IPL, post the Gabriella Pasqualotto "secret blog scandal" about treatment of women in the IPL!! Think it over, owners!!

Well.... Wait.... I forgot!!! Given BCCI has taken charge of administering IPL these days, decisions on IPL are now made by "old men in smoke-filled rooms" (dimly lit)!!! So sadly, my idea will never see the light of the day. Sorry girls... not so fast. Lalit Modi......!!! Where art thou when we need you the most.........?

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