The Ever-increasing Popularity of Cash Rich Crop of BCCI - IPL despite Marring Controversies

Cash Rich Crop - IPL

When Indian Premier League popularly known as IPL was inaugurated in the year 2008 I was very excited to see how this new format will fare. To be honest it has lived up to the expectations to some extent. I have already seen 6 IPL seasons pass by and lots of things have changed (off-the-field controversies) but the tournament still exists and is one of the popular events regularly watched by millions of cricket fanatics around the globe. One man’s dream - Lalit Modi of bringing together players from various different playing nations was earlier laughed at and was even considered a crazy idea. But since then we have seen the demand for T20 cricket and tournaments happening around the globe that have made this format and tournament alive.  Let me enumerate the top controversies that have made a mark during the last 6 seasons of Indian Premier League (IPL) along with my reactions:

·         Since the year 2008 Indian Premier League popularly known as IPL commenced. In the initial years Lalit Modi acted as IPL chairman as he was the brain behind the IPL tournament. But BCCI found him guilty of “alleged acts of individual misdemeanours" on 25^th April 2010. This included a wide range of financial impropriety, from rigging bidding deals related to the IPL, offering bribes, betting and money laundering. “My question is he acted as IPL chairman for 3 long years and then was asked to vacate the place. How can BCCI guarantee whether he did not favour a particular team and did not affect the results of any of the matches conducted during his tenure as IPL chairman?” 

·         In the inaugural IPL tournament April 2008 Mumbai Indians’ stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh slapped Kings XI Punjab’s S Sreesanth after losing a match in Mohali. A sobbing Sreesanth was caught on camera. After investigations, BCCI handed Harbhajan an 11-match suspension. This was a big shocker. Since the purpose this game was to bring players from different teams together but that was all ruined. The other fact is cricket is always considered a Gentlemen’s game. Having shared the Indian dressing room for couple of years this was a disheartening thing because I have always considered that being in Indian team is the most important team than an IPL team. When you hit your fellow country sportsman like this what kind of message are you giving to the cricketing fraternity?

·         On 14 May 2012 Indian Premier League encountered another defying blow as an Indian News channel India TV aired a string operation which accused 5 players including TP Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Amit Jadav, Shalabh Shrivastava (Kings XI Punjab), and Abhinav Bali (Dehli) involved in spot fixing. Among them Mishra was caught on tape saying that franchisees paid them black money and that he had received 15 million (US$240,000) from the later, among which 12 million (US$190,000) was black money. He was also suspended from his team. My point is with so much of money riding on the tournament and various heavy weight industrialists backing their teams this was ought to happen. But my point is if these players are paid well they would never go such a thing. As they were uncapped players the whole point of betrayal of trust was never there. But in case if any top international player was caught red-handed the entire stuff would have been a lot different. Then I would have lost trust from the tournament.

·         In IPL 5 Luke Pomersbach was arrested for allegedly molesting a US woman of Indian origin. This was probably the first instance where a cricketer was caught doing something that was not expected from a gentleman. It was a bad brand advertisement for such a big tournament. 

·         On 16 May 2013, 3 players of Rajasthan Royals team were arrested by Delhi Police on charges of spot fixing. The three players were S. Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan & Ajit Chandila. On 24 May 2013 Gurunath Meiyappan, a top official of the Chennai Super Kings franchise and son-in-law of BCCI president N. Srinivasan was arrested in Mumbai by Mumbai Crime Branch in connection with illegal betting. This was a big blow especially for a cricket fanatic like me. If cricketers like S. Sreesanth and son-in-law of N. Srinivasan were involved in spot fixing then there is a whole lot more than what is seen from naked eyes. I cannot believe that a guy like Sreesanth who is so aggressively while bowling can do such a thing because this is a national disgrace for the cricketers. Let alone this fact that I for one decided not to watch IPL after getting the news. 

But what are the odds of this tournament to lose the popularity? I don’t see that happening soon because of the high-adrenal rush that this quick format provides. You get to see a lot of action in 3 hours much like the enjoyment you get after seeing a movie. Seeing international players from different teams rub shoulders with each other for example; Virender Sehwag and Kevin Pietersen together batting in a match is a treat to watch for every cricket fanatic. Involvement of cheerleaders adds lot of glamour and gives sex appeal that was missing in the earlier part of tournaments held in India; and even cricketers like to be cheered. 

Moreover when we see fours, sixes, and wickets so quickly it adds to the overall anxiety and there is lot of tension, suspense, emotions involved within each and every cricket fan. Believe me when you are cheering for a team you tend to back them with whole heart. The other thing is the finger tickling combo of cricket and Bollywood with the spiced up fashion, parties, gossips, entertainment which is a rarity to see but we can only see during an IPL tournament. The excited face of Shahrukh Khan, owner of Kolkata Knightriders Team when he goes wholeheartedly with his team; and who can forget his Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re dance after Kolkata Knightriders won IPL 5 tournament!! When you see celebrities come up to support teams it has its own charm. The other thing is fresh talents can come up and showcase their talent on big stage. 

The negative thing about IPL is the fact that IPL tournament is conducted during the exams of children. What good would it do if it conflicts with the whole idea of supporting education and children which were done while the tournament was shifted to South Africa? The overdose of cheerleaders, Bollywood stars and highly subsidised rich individuals have all made the wrong showcase points for a tournament that could have been a lot better. One question that comes in my mind is why does IPL tournament does not partner with leading NGOs as a part of their media strategy. This way they can also perform some CSR activities for the poor people. The other thing is we have always had the debate that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. But no one has been able to justify the exorbitant prices that the international players get during auctions and the domestic players hardly get their reserve price met. These are some of the questions that have often been raised but have never been analyzed in an in-depth manner. 

In couple of months we will see the commencement of new season of Indian Premier League - IPL 7. Let us hope that the controversies remain at bay and we enjoy an interesting brand of cricket for at least the younger breed of cricketers do need an international stage like IPL to showcase their talents rather than the regular Ranji Trophy matches. 

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Feel free to post your comments and feedback about IPL to - Mr. Asrani (Author)