The IPL, another disaster in this sense, has fast attracted present day cricketers. The lucrative franchises have taken advantage of their rational choice --over emotional and sensational choice in life-- to a great extent.

The history of sports extends as far back as the existence of mankind. Sports have been a useful way to increase their mastery of nature and the environment. The history of sport can teach us a great deal about social changes and about the nature of present day sports as well.

As society changes, the rules of sports too get altered naturally. The evidences are aplenty to say that sports events, like the present cricket tournament named Indian Premier League (IPL), and the introduction of technology to sports are in the process of heralding new frontiers.

The attitude of people towards sports also changes as the society changes. It is a fact that human behaviour in society changed drastically with the advent of the Industrialisation, the French Revolution as well as the rise of capitalism.

The novel ‘Great Expectations’ written by Charles Dickens pinned the idea as to how an individual is lost in his expectations as he loses good qualities like humility, simplicity, etc. in a capitalised social system. It dramatises the character of Pip and his expectations in life.

These expectations fade away by the end of the novel. The novel depicts the character of an individual in a capitalist society where one can lose all ‘great expectations’ of life as he/she tends to forget the basic norms and principles of life.

* ‘Man is a political animal’ – Aristotle

* ‘Man is a rational animal; an animal that can know and make choices’ – Stoics

* ‘A tool-making animal’ – Franklin

* ‘A machine into which you put food and out of which come thoughts’ – Le Mettrie

* ‘A little less than the Angles’ – Psalm No. 8

Thirteen years have passed since Sri Lanka won the Cricket World Cup, in 1996 under the captaincy of Arjuana Ranatunga at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore (where Sri Lanka team was attacked by unidentified gunmen recently). But Sri Lanka has failed so far to win another World Cup since then though they’ve managed to enter a semi-final of a World Cup once again.

Australians, on the other hand, kept on their winning streak till today especially after they won the world title in 1999.

But on the hindsight, what we see on television and on the either side of the road are the advertisement hoardings of our National cricketers whose profession has now become, 13 years after the popular Lahore win, mainly promotion of commodities.

The IPL, another disaster in this sense, has fast attracted present day cricketers. The lucrative franchises have taken advantage of their rational choice --over emotional and sensational choice in life-- to a great extent. The IPL showcases the ugly and dangerous nature of ‘buying and selling’ in a capitalist society where true sportsmanship and the commitment of sportspersons to their country are at stake.

In this situation, the players’ morality is seen covered under the cloud of money. Many literary creations explaining this awful situation have been written (like ‘Great Expectations’) and so were there some branches of philosophy. But apparently all of them have come to no use when one understands the present day tendencies.

The value of man’s existence does not essentially depend on the amount of riches one has but on the contributions you would make to the betterment of the human society you live in. But a question still remains as to when such a change in society could takes place. Can a true sportsman come up and survive in this society with the true spirit of sports, with a massive amount of wealth he/she intends to grab through sports. Two contradictory goals, aren’t they?

As Stoics* says; "Man is a rational animal, an animal that can know and make choices."

So, the goal of any rational sportsperson should be to make the right choice; Overcoming ‘destructive emotions’ (Stoicism) that will harm both him/her self and the image of true spirit of sportsmanship. It is easier said…

* Stoicism was founded by ‘Zeno of Citium’ in the 3rd century BC. Based on the ethical ideas of the Cynics, it taught that the goal of life was to live in accordance with nature. It advocated the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions