IPL has revolutionized the way cricket is watched and followed

IPL is undoubtedly one the biggest sports extravaganzas in the globe with

a turnover running into around Rs 7,000 crore. It has however, been embroiled in

a host of controversies. And in the midst of it all is the CEO of DLF IPLSundar

Raman. He was appointed last year to give the game a professional touch. Prior

to this, Raman had been associated with the WPP group for over a decade.

Ramans biggest challenge came when the game was abruptly shifted to South

Africa due to political issues in India. It was a logistical nightmare,

considering the short time frame. But Raman and his team did their homework, and

thanks to the investment and knowledge of IT solutions, were able to ensure that

all went according to plan. In spite of being caught up in the rigmarole of the

upcoming event, Raman took some time out for an exclusive interaction with

Dataquest, wherein he talks about how the game has been revolutionized by the

20-over innovation and how technology is helping make it a success. Excerpts

How has technology helped in making IPL an extravaganza? And now has it

been used better in comparison to traditional cricket matches?



Technology has manifested itself in multiple ways to bring the sport closer

to the fan. Be it online blogs by sportsmen, video blogs, live online

interactions, to multiple camera angles on the field of play and players etc

being miked up for LIVE chats with commentators. Technology has indeed come a

long way since we listened to commentary of cricket matches on radios. The

Hawk-Eye and online Pulse Predicta game are other such amazing technology

interfaces which are helping take the game to the next level. The DLF IPL is

happy to be using all of this and more to bring the game closer to the viewer.

What is the mandate for the technology behind the IPL? Is there some sort

of commonality of technology between the various teams?



The digital rights for each franchise rests with the franchise owners

themselves. We have not put any technology stipulations and have allowed them to

choose their own systems.

However, we have fully understood the importance of the Internet in helping

create and sustain a global franchise like the DLF IPL and have explored avenues

to exploit the same right from the start. Testimony to which was our association

with companies like LiveCurrent and Netlinkblue for building an online

destination for our fans in the form of the immensely popular www.iplt20.com.

This signifies the first ever attempt to create a cricket-related content and

commerce destination as the future cricket DestinationHub for cricket fans

globally.

With www.iplt20.com becoming the official online destination for the DLF IPL,

fans from around the world now have access to the entire season starting April

10, 2009. The site offer access to official league content including

audio-visual, photographs, live scoreboards and summaries, match results,

Fantasy Cricket, player interviews, profiles, schedules, statistics, ticketing

and fan interaction through polls, contests and newsletters.

The site extends the stadium experience of a cricket match to the worldwide

audience of cricket fans at large. The www.iplt20.com website is highly

interactive and includes everything cricket fans would need to get their daily,

hourly and minute-by-minute updates from.

That aside, we have also taken some steps toward creating a Web 2.0 interface

for the IPL, working closely with some of the important social media networking

sites to create enhanced interactivity for the fans.

IPL has also broken new grounds in terms of taking the sport to the

public, through use of Web 2.0 technology like interactive portals, YouTube

channels, etc. Your comment on the same and on what lies ahead?



There is no doubt that any technology that enables a cricket follower to get

scores faster and more reliably is going to be one of the hottest things in

town. The launch of interactive tools on various sites have greatly contributed

to the popularity of the game and have brought the game much closer to the most

ardent cricket fans.

Currently, desktop clients are the rage as yearning cricket fans are offered

numerous options to evaluate the game in the form of live score updates (without

the need to click on any refresh buttons), manhattans, graphs, videos and much

more on the desktop.

For the first time, the DLF IPL is now working closely with some of the

important social media networking sites to create enhanced interactivity for the

fans. As we move on from here, we are hopeful that online cricket will become

that much more intense and personal as technology advances.

While initially BCCI was slow to move into the arena of tech-driven sport

(they did not even have a functional website before IPL), how has the mother

body been affected by the uptake of technology?



The all new official home of Indian cricket on the web at www.bcci.tv now

offer fans an enriched digital user experience featuring deferred streaming

video and mobile content apart from a live scoreboard available online, official

photographs, player interviews, profiles, schedules, statistics and fan

interaction and newsletters. All of which should ensure that through one single

online destination, Indian cricket fans now have the opportunity to interact

with the action. The website will provide all these digital assets to Indian

cricket fans globally thanks to Global Cricket Ventures, a joint venture between

Communicate.com, dba Live Current Media, a media company built around content

and commerce destinations and Netlinkblue, a multinational provider of

end-to-end consulting, technology and outsourcing solutions for IT and business

consulting services.

Online and mobile streaming video is fast becoming an increasingly popular

medium as video-enabled mobile devices and faster broadband internet speeds

enable a second screen experience for users to interact with live action any

time, from any location that fits their needs. It was thus critical that we

offer the discerning Indian cricket fan this unique experience albeit not LIVE.

I am happy that this alliance between Global Cricket Ventures and BCCI will

further significantly enrich the user experience for Indian cricket fans around

the world with a direct window to the on-field action through generation next

technologies.

With the shift of the arena to South Africa, how much of a logistic

nightmare was it, and how did you cope with it?



The decision to shift the DLF IPL Season 2009 to South Africa was the advent

of a huge logistical exercise and, honestly speaking, we initially believed it

would be a massive challenge. However, with the help and co-operation of Cricket

South Africa and Gerald Majola in particular, I must confess that it has proved

to be quite easy in spite of the fact that we started from ground zero.

I guess all our preparations to host the league back home in India did

pay-off to an extent Currently, we have approximately more than a thousand

people working on this tournament and are working with some of the very best

vendors in SA to ensure the success of the league.

Shashwat DC



shashwatc@cybermedia.co.in