In Flux
A SHR-ECONOMICS Society Initiative
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.
IPL
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.