Consolidation

Dev — as the fast bowling all-rounder capable of smashing sixes as well as stumps attacks — was considered to be the physical apogee of Indian cricket, an ideal few could aspire to. Gavaskar’s skill was as much in his mind as it was in his hands and eyes, his discipline mythical, beyond the reach of all but the enlightened. But neither player won the hearts of the people in the same manner as the 16-year-old Mumbai boy from a middle-class family who could bat. Nor could they have hoped to.

Sachin Tendulkar’s rise should have been predictable; he was precocious yet relatable. His talent was rare, that much was understood, but it came from an upbringing that most of India would consider as common ground. Along with Shah Rukh Khan — the other funnel of attention in the ’90s — Tendulkar shaped cricket not just with his runs but also the financial potential those runs brought.

The universe, too, conspired to magnify his 5’5’’ frame into a million-dollar influence. Doordarshan used to have a monopoly over the rights to televise Indian cricket. But, as India’s markets opened up to the world in 1993, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tested the waters and found takers. Companies like Trans World International and WorldTel (the company that also managed Tendulkar) had deeper pockets and put their money where it mattered, jostling for the broadcast rights of Indian cricket in the boardroom and in court. As the BCCI laughed its way to the bank, cricket production took a leap forward in terms of quality. Live cricket was now much closer to the experience that the well-produced silver screen offered, taking the sport one step closer to the look and feel of Bollywood. And Tendulkar’s brand value, too, started resembling that of a film star’s, reportedly swelling from INR 16 lakhs per year to INR 5 crore.

As new standards were set in the broadcast industry, and millions leaned further in to watch their hero, the rest was sometimes incidental. Pure sport cannot sustain the common Indian fan, a creature that has been raised on a diet of happy endings. The audience almost always went home sated from a movie hall, with their hero having featured successfully in every scene. And so it was in cricket; the Indian team’s ODI win percentage only improved to 47 per cent in the ’90s, but Tendulkar’s batting average of 44 meant that more often than not, he was among the runs.

Explosion

One of the beauties of sport is that it is unknowable. That is why exorbitant amounts of money are paid to telecast it and even to watch it live (Indian fans at World Cups, I’m looking at you). The hope of victory married to the thrill of uncertainty; that is why people empty their purses. The professional athlete accepts this as her reality; winning and losing is a part of sport.

But think about it from the financial point of view. How do you build a business around a product that loses more often than it wins?

India moved past these limitations with the introduction of the IPL (Indian Premier League), where India wins every day. As new heroes emerged and went on to win the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, the IPL scattered them and ensured that a star burned bright every night for two months straight. In a country of a billion fans, even divided loyalties can mean a million eyeballs. Many initially wrote it off as a tamasha. Even some overseas players who were involved thought of it as nothing more than a hit and giggle, invitational doubles at Wimbledon meets coloured kits and late night parties.

But despite the initial controversies, the IPL always had all the right ingredients: a tournament immune to loss; emboldened by foreign talent who were forged to Indian loyalties. And so cricket, as a spectacle, was suddenly becoming a safer bet. The IPL insured against the volatility of international cricket, moving the sport from gladiatorial to theatrical, at least from the watchers’ point of view. And in the last few years, it has coincided with (and perhaps contributed to) India’s dominance on the world stage.

A senior journalist once shared an insight gained from the broadcasting industry: a team winning even 55 per cent of the time can still hold the attention of fans. India have won 66 per cent of their ODI games since the last World Cup. They are currently the No. 1 side in Tests, No. 2 in ODIs and a force in T20Is. The recent World Cup semi-final showed that they can have one bad day, but in the long run, India are now a bankable side, not unlike the biggest superstars in Bollywood, who will bring in revenue even if a movie is made about what they had for breakfast.