Advertiser's biggest carnival

Although the ICC Cricket World Cup has come to an end, the celebrations have not. The action off the field is still going on and will continue to do so for some time. The Municipal Corporation of Mumbai recently announced that they are going to create a museum of the World Cup. For a country, whose happiness and despair vacillate with their cricket team’s performance, it is not surprising to see that the celebrations over their much awaited World Cup victory are far from over.

After this World Cup, not only Sachin but even Dhoni and Yuvraj have been immortalized, while the advertisers are still queuing up to sign these immortal World Cup heroes. While the full enormity of the achievement had not even sunk in properly, the Indian Premier League took off. The IPL started churning out new heroes by the day, changing fortunes of the teams by the match.

Paul Valthaty has become a household name today. As of now, there is no team which stands unconquered. Most of the teams have got a good balance of players in their side making it a keenly contested IPL with little to separate between the teams. If Punjab Kings XI have caught many by surprise, entrants Kochi Tuskers by handing Mumbai Indians their first defeat, have raised a few eyebrows too. Pune Warriors after starting off well have lost their footing while defending champions Chennai Super Kings have also been made to bite the dust three times.

Written off players like L. Balaji, Ambati Rayudu and teams like Kolkata Knight Riders have resuscitated in this edition. Adding to the hoopla is the increasing number of people watching IPL this year. India’s World Cup victory has changed the entire equation. The number of women and children viewers has upsurged this year. Gone are the days when cricket used to be a male skewed sport and families used to have quarrels over the remote. Nowadays everyone in the family unanimously wants to watch IPL and cricket has become a family entertainer that any advertiser would put their money on. Cricket has not remained the same after the World Cup and neither have the lives of people of this great country.

As Nelson Mandela rightfully put in - “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.”

Long live the sport!

(The author is National Creative Director, Leo Burnett)