10 February,2009 09:01 AM IST | | Milind Rege
Sold is a horrible word that was linked to the Indian Premier League auction at Goa last week.
Yet, it sounds so sweet to the cricketers' ears. But those not "sold" would go through depressing moments. No one wants to buy them; not worth the amount must be the arguments put forward by the franchisees.
I was privileged be on an NDTV show during the IPL auction. I went through this for four hours or more and have yet to understand whether there was a method to the madness that was seen at the auction.
A player in the lowest category was marked "to be sold" for US $50,000. If Bangladeshi Mashrafe Mortaza was watching the show, his heart must have sunk. There were no takers for him and suddenly someone said he would take him and his life has changed! He went for $600,000 12 times over his price tag. How then was he valued at US $50,000 to begin with?
Another strange case is that of South African batsman J P Duminy. He went for a whopping US $950,000 after one good tour. Times have changed and one is happy to see the fees a professional sportsman is getting. But the discrepancy is going to cause a lot of heartburn. Can anyone tell me that in a team game, one's contribution is lesser than the other? A brilliant catch, an outstanding run-out, a last-ball six are all such factors that contribute to a win. Why would then one be paid so much more than the other? Let's take the case of a captain, who has all the responsibilities. How can he get lesser than a player in the team?
Not yet in India
I am aware that team owners are putting in so much money to brand their product and certainly not for the love of the game alone. But that stage has yet to be reached in India. A Beckham or a Ronaldo will draw huge crowds and the merchandising that will be sold will be enormous on account of the brand. But to say that Mortaza is more valuable than a Ponting or even our own Zaheer Khan, who was bought for $450,000 or a player of that stature is ridiculous. It is difficult to comprehend whether those cricket experts who are advising the franchises about the value of the player to the team are doing so entirely in the interest of a team combination or to suit the franchisee's ego.
In any selection and I am speaking from experience, having been part of selection committees over the years it's the last one or two places that takes the most time. But no one can justify the huge differences over the payment made to the likes of Tyron Henderson and Mortaza. The discrepancy is too wide!
The foreigners are having a ball and will laugh all the way to the bank. What hurts is that outstanding match-winners like Abhishek Nayar, Dhaval Kulkarni, Ravindra Jadeja and many other young Indians who have performed in the last IPL season must be ruing that they have not been "sold" for what they are worth.
Do team owners know what they are doing?
Milind Rege is a former Mumbai captain
