Hey guys ‘In Flux’ is back for its second issue! We would really like to thank all the readers for their enthusiastic response to the newsletter and the survey. In fact, so great was the response to the survey that we have decided to dedicate a special section to the analysis of the results besides presenting a copy to the principal who has promised to look into the concerns of the student community over the canteen. In this issue we discuss the IPL frenzy, the digitization of

manufacturing, the sociology behind economics, Red Bull Racing’s amazing story, Facebook’s newest acquisition and try to answer the basic question of trade besides sharing some interesting facts and games.

Money for Nothing!

Another season of the billion dollar

extravaganza with dancing girls, franchise

based city teams, a hyper Danny Morrison,

more sponsors than you can count and a bit

of cricket on the side is back. The carnival has

rolled back into town, perhaps it would be

more apt to call it a circus, but the fact

remains that season 5 of the IPL is underway.

Yes, we have the purple cap, the orange cap

and perhaps in a couple of years players will

joust for the maroon, green and yellow caps.

Sixes are now labelled, DLF Maximums, the

phrase Karbonn Kamaal Catch has caught on

and the commentators scream ‘That’s a Citi

moment of success’ at every given

opportunity. This is not merely a cricketing

tournament. It is money making machine

that keeps rolling out the notes. Television

viewership may have dropped, the stadiums

may not be packed to full capacity, but the

men who matter keep rolling in the green

stuff.

Form is temporary, class is permanent.

© iplfanzone

A bit of a cliché, that. This edition of the IPL

has also proved that that age old adage is

true. Paul Valthaty, Saurabh Tiwary, and a

few others, those unknown players who

catapulted themselves to national stardom

and million dollar bliss, where are they now?

Paul who? While they may have scored

lucrative contracts on the back of some

impressive performances last season, the

team owners realized all too quickly that

they had made a poor investment.

On the other hand, established international

stars such as Gautam Gambhir, Virender

Sehwag, AB De Villiers, Chris Gayle, Lasith

Malinga, Kevin Pietersen and Morne Morkel have

been worth every penny spent. There have also

been a number of smart buys or bargain buys

such as Ajinkya Rahane, Owais Shah, Brad Hogg,

Steven Smith and Francois Du Plessis. While they

are not global superstars like the Gayles or

Sehwags, they have all risen to the occasion and

significantly contributed to their teams’ success.

Then, there have been the T20 mercenaries,

Kieron Pollard, Alfonso Thomas, the Dwaynes-

Bravo and Smith. They have all been reasonably

successful, without setting the tournament on

fire. The t20 market is like any other market; you

need an experienced eye and sound business

sense if you want to make money.

Gayle, Samuels, Bravo and Pollard chose

their IPL franchises ahead of their national

commitments, but Kevin Pietersen decided that

country came before club. However, what must

be noted here is that the ECB provides its

players financial security, and Pietersen has

already made an obscene amount of money.

The WICB could not hope to match the sums

offered by the IPL franchises and so missed out

on the services of some of their best players

during their home series against the Australians,

who incidentally were at full strength. Can

players be blamed for wanting to provide for the

future, for wanting financial security? Whether

you love it, hate it, don’t care about it, the IPL is

here to stay. We cannot fight it, so we had

better embrace it. It has changed the cricketing

world as we know it.