Overall, is the BPL a good idea?

[al Furqaan]

It seems the BPL is a "success" so far. I did not expect BCB to be able to pull off a tournament of this scope at all, and on such short notice. Apart from the quality of the cricket itself, I don't see any way in which its an "inferior" brand to the much hyped IPL.

The tournament will obviously raise money for the BCB, but will that be put to good use to fix our "infrastructure?" The personal wealth's of almost all our national cricketers will increase to proportions that they could not have imagined even a year ago. Just to put it into perspective, while IPL paydays remain a far cry, each of our 6 icons will be earning more than quadruple the average American's yearly salary for 3 weeks of work!

Will the BPL detract from our Test performance?

Initially, I thought so. However, if you look at the facts, it almost certainly will not have any negative effects. And it can only help. But it shouldn't hurt.

Motivation is the key element here, and many times I feel our players aren't motivated to perform at the highest level. But lets remember back to when Ishant Sharma - a generally useless limited overs player - got a $900,000 bid not too many years ago. This was based solely on his performances as a Test player. It may not make sense to pick T20 players based on Test performance, but often its less about getting the best player and more about getting the most marketable player. In short, I think our players will wan to perform well at Test and ODI level in order to secure the biggest payout of all: a huge BPL contract.

In terms of skill level, I think this tournament will do well to provide our ODI and T20I sides with some big hitters which we sorely lack. This will only make our limited overs teams better. Bowler will be forced to think more, and batsman who can hit without getting out will be found. Confidence to hit big might infect the likes of Naeem Islam and some other once galant, now wussy players.

So overall, what do you think?