How to sell a googly to non-Googlers

There was a time when purists considered one-day internationals (ODIs) as tiddlywinks - not really cricket. Then, with the advent of Twenty20, ODIs gained some relative respect, while a tournament like the Indian Premier League (IPL) was considered a cross between a religious festival and a circus. Today, with money not talking but screaming 'IPL!' it was a matter of time that in the chain of conservative devaluation - correlated one-on-one with mass super-valuation - a new pretender of popularity would arrive. No, not galli cricket, but a perfectly fake IPL sold to folks who wouldn't know the difference: the non-cricket-playing Russians.

A Gujarat village had farm labourers pretending to be cricketers, a Harsh Bhogle lookalike commentating, and social media updates for 'punters' - sitting in Russia. To be fair, the con wasn't really a con, since bets were taken online for a cricket contest called 'Indian Premier Cricket League' - IPCL. But if we can get our Ukrainian and Russian mixed up, there's no reason why Russians may see IPL and IPCL not having any difference. Ambient spectator sound was downloaded, regular IPL team jerseys were donned by the fake players.... Which goes to show that the trick is to 'sell' something to those who know little of its lack of value, itself a valuable exercise in valuation.