Does an IPL trophy tour amuse you?

It popped up on my mailbox while I was in the middle of reading some vitriolic Indian cricket bashing in Australian newspapers. The PR agency wants media outlets to tell the world there would soon be an IPL trophy tour.

You read it right. The IPL trophy will indeed be showcased across Indian cities a bit like the World Cup is by the ICC and the Champions Trophy is currently being done.

Public relations and realism rarely make marriage and being boastful comes with the territory. So the IPL machinery is happy to parade the trophy a month before the tournament kicks off.

A fact check tells us the tournament comes alive for the month-and-a-half it's played and fades from public memory after the final is won. Who was the winning captain holding aloft the IPL trophy last year, anyone?

Even the not so objective commentator would be shy of speaking aloud "this is what they play for" seeing the trophy.

This is not to put the IPL down or its reach. It is the best paid cricket league in the world and one that is one way or the other central to the game’s financial stream.

But the league is far from having developed an emotional fan base. Cricket still being largely a nation vs nation sport, that’s what generates rivalries for fans.

An Australian player sledging an Indian cricketer still riles fans. Such emotions don’t enjoy a pride of place among fans during IPL skirmishes.

Indian sports fans do happily pose with the Champions league trophy when it takes a tour. Messi and Barcelona have such an appeal. Pitching a Champions league or EPL trophy tour is not foolhardy even in a nation where football craze prevails only in select pockets.

The IPL is entertaining, competitive, makes great business sense but is far from having reached "a legacy space". An IPL trophy tour doesn’t quite add up.

PS: Sunrisers Hyderabad won IPL 2016 and David Warner was the winning captain.

Also read: How IPL should have changed Indian cricket (and what really happened)