There is nothing wrong or out of place in Cricket being commercialized in this way. We just need to look at the other contemporary sports from Association Football to NBA to Lawn tennis, F1 and Golf . Every sport requires to be properly marketed and "sold" to the audiences , else large number of spectators will start losing interest. For example just a few years back , around the time of 2006 ( The FIFA world cup in Germany ) spectator interest in football in the eastern states like West Bengal and the North -eastern states was at its peak . I still remember everyone from tea -sellers to pan wallahs , discussing about the Argentine line-up or Kahn 's latest exploits .
Besides as far as the lucrative deals being offered to players of Pollard, Haddin , Lee , Mc Cullum's callibre are concerned , it pales in comparison to what Rooney , or Messi is being offered in Europe.
Ultimately IPL is a great motivation and influence on not just the subcontinent but across the entire Cricketing world in general. When youngsters in England, New Zealand or West Indies watch these Games with record fees being offered to players and some really world class cricket being put on display, It will serve to draw their interest from other attractions like Rugby ( in South Africa or New Zealand ) or the NBA ( in the case of the West Indies ).
Already an entire Generation of West Indian Fast bowling talent has been lost to the U.S NBA leagues . Even today a tall , well build Jamaican athlete is attracted more by the NBA and would rather take up Basketball than concentrate on Cricket. Given that the number of Nations playing serious cricket is strictly limited to the common wealth, unlike Soccer , Golf , F1 or Tennis which have truly international footprints , such professional endeavours in our sport should be encouraged .