Caught at the silly point

Cricket’s time-tested reputation of being the gentlemen’s game is comprehensively replaced by being the money spinner’s game in the 21st century. Like it or not, this grind of the game’s money spinning reputation is a figment of tectonic shift of its base and importance from the orthodox Lords of London to the cheesy Wankhade’s lawns of Mumbai. What Kerry Packer of Australia failed to do a few decades back, was turned into a super success by the BCCI through the initiation of the Indian Premiere League (IPL). 

 

Ever since the inception of the IPL in the year 2008, two things have always remained constant – success and scams. Without an iota of doubt, it is easily the most popular, glamorous and of course the most expensive domestic cricket series in the world. It also raised the pedestal of BCCI’s standing of its ability to host a major event with loads of gusto and glamour that can even eclipse the likes of English Premier League or National Basketball Association of the US. But, following the trail of success has been the beast of burden of major scams and huge monetary misappropriation, which is looming to cast a shadow on the very existence of the competition. 

 

Recently, Sun TV Network has bought the Hyderabad IPL franchise (now dissolved Deccan Chargers previously held by DHCL) for Rs 425 crore, payable in the next five years at Rs 85.5 crore per year. But, the bidding process of this franchise has largely been opaque and is the cornerstone of controversy regarding the authenticity and fairness of the deal that provided an opportunity to Lalit Modi (who himself is hiding away in Britain) to hit the BCCI top bosses with his tweet, “Someone should see N Srinivasan’s and India Cements’ relationship with Sun TV. BCCI is trying to gift a team to Srini’s pals. While Sahara pays $370 million for its team, this one goes for pennies. How and why?” Even though this fiasco is pointed out by a tainted person like Lalit Modi, but the fact is that the price for the franchise is surprisingly low! For the uninitiated, a couple of weeks back, Hyderabad-based PVP Ventures put in a bid of Rs 900 crore to buy Deccan Chargers from the DHCL which was ultimately rejected by DHCL. Moreover, two years ago, Sahara and Kochi Tuskers had to dish out Rs 170 and 150 crore yearly for Pune and Kochi franchise respectively. Then why is Sun TV's price tag being discounted? The answer is probably blowing in the wind! The scams and question marks are having a telling effect on the event with DLF – the title sponsor of the event from its very inception – washing its hand out of the event. The murky waters of unholy nexus among cricketers, organisers and the players was revealed in a private television channel’s sting operation implicating three Indian cricketers making the matter even more foul for IPL. 

 

There is nothing wrong in commercialising the IPL – which is the case in most professionally-managed sporting events in the world – but the enormity of the event’s shadowy deals and alleged corruption is threatening the sanctity of IPL. Sadly, it is heading the CWG way.