While this year’s cricket extravaganza has not even reached its penultimate stage, we already have a controversy regarding next year’s tournament diverting all the attention from the fiesta. With gaining success every year, the IPL governing board decided to expand the tournament with the addition of two new teams. The selection of the final two teams which made the cut were Pune which is around 200 Km away from an existing IPL team-Mumbai and the underdog (if I may call them so) Kochi, Kerala, still puzzles me. Contrary to the rumors in the cricketing media which gave Ahmadabad and Nagpur the edge, Pune and Kochi appeared to bag the bragging rights of being part of an elite few in this entertaining, extravagant, money making fiesta which every Indian looks forward to every year for the love of the game. To justify the enormity of just owning a team was demonstrated this year when the teams were auctioned out for a total sum of $703 million which is more than the cost of all the current eight teams put together. A striking number which makes you wonder- where is the recession the world in talking about?
Over the last one week, the transition of team Kochi into the elite group seems to have hit bad weather with allegations of undisclosed owners, involvement of government officials and even bribery. I am not here to repeat what everyone is seeing on the media over the last one week. But what I would like to debate is the way this matter has been politicized not only by the team owners and the IPL commissioner but also by our dear political parties. So getting things into perspective:
1. Kochi team is purchased by collection of individuals and companies for a sum of $333 million
2. Bidders for the team involved a minister from the central government for guidance who also represents the region
3. Opposition asking involved minister to explain and resign on ethics
4. IPL commissioner is alleged to have vested interest in introducing another team by disqualifying Kochi based on administrative backgrounds
5. Minister alleges commissioner of manipulating system
Not getting into too much of the ruckus and allegations, what surprises me here is the voice of the opposition calling for the minister’s resignation for showing guidance and favoring a team from his constituency. Cricket and politics in India can never be separated knowing the public influence the game has across the country which comes along with a big bag of mullah! Just look at the heads of some of the state cricket boards in India; Delhi Cricket Association is headed by the charismatic Arun Jately- Leader of Opposition in the Upper House of parliament, which also involves politician/cricketer Kirti Azad , the Bihar Cricket Association is headed none other than Lalu Prasad Yadav (MP in the lower house) from times forgotten, the Rajasthan Cricket Association is headed by Dr. C.P Joshi, the current Panchayat Raj Minister in the central government. How about the Gujarat Cricket Association which is chaired by none other than the Chief Minister of the state itself. As a respect to his highness the Maharaja of the Mysore who is affiliated to the ruling party in India heads the Karnataka Cricket Association. Finally to substantiate my point the Minister for Agriculture was not only the President of BCCI but is also the current head of the Mumbai Cricket Association. Added to this he will be taking over the post of President of the International Cricket Council soon. These are just few examples of how cricket and politics have blended together for the better or the worse.
Let’s look at some instances where politicians have used their influence and power to mend situation in favor of the associations they are affiliated to. Earlier this year the Firosha Kotla was on the verge of being band from hosting international cricket by the ICC but was diverted away by the influence of DCA president and the future president of ICC ( by now you know who he is). When the commissioner of IPL ignored the assurances from the state government of Andhra Pradesh on hosting the IPL games for Deccan Chargers under the cloud of regional tension, which ironically was the opposition party to which the commissioner is said to be affiliated to. How about the influence used by the politically strong members of the governing body to host major matches in Mumbai instead of Kolkata which host the most famous cricketing ground in the world (opposition between the head of cricket in West Bengal and the BCCI president both politically opposite and add to this -head of Mumabi Cricket Association… join the dots!). The influence and pressure applied to nominate new IPL franchises Ahmadabad, Pune and Nagpur which have association to governing members - note two teams from the same state!! It could have been three teams from the same state if both Nagpur and Pune would have won. Why not nominate regions from the east which has only one representation in the last three seasons; are there no influential politicians from that side of the country in the governing body? Some may argue that the states in the east do not have the star power or big name players when it comes to cricket. My answer to this is looks at Rajasthan Royals. There is hardly anyone from Rajasthan playing in the team and I expect the same to happen to Kochi also, if it ever makes it to IPL4.
So when a minister lobbies and guides individuals or a collection of companies in securing a quid pro quo situation, where it comes down to ‘ If I help in getting the Kochi team , this will intern help my constituency”- what is so different from what has been happening till now. The allegations thrown at the minister also involve financial benefits from the franchises profits which have not been proved on record yet and have been refuted not only by the minister (as expected) but also by the franchise owners. As of now I do not stand in a position to comment on this issue. But what I can comment on is the similarity in which politicians use their muscles for direct or indirect financial gains. Look at the decision of moving IPL home games of Deccan Chargers to Mumbai and Nagpur instead of Bangalore or Chennai which are either closer or equally close to Hyderabad. A similar decision of splitting home games of Rajasthan Royals between Jaipur and Ahmadabad was taken in this season of IPL, when there are no regional tensions or threats similar to Hyderabad. Had the commissioner already made up his mind of having Ahmadabad and Nagpur as next year’s entrants to IPL and as a gesture of things to come awarded theses games? I am sure he must have had a rude shock when both the teams did not make it to the final two. Connecting the dots one may not be surprised know if this is the motive behind all the ruckus and mudslinging.
At the end, if the Minister did assist the owners of Kochi in a non-financial manner with no strings attached for the pure fact that he wanted to promote his constituency and brand Kerala-He does not stand guilty in anyway, knowing the history between cricket and politics. If the Minister does have financial stake in the team, he should give up his ministerial position and focus all his efforts in promoting Brand Kerala and Brand Kochi as any commercial aspirant. Unfortunately if the governing body of IPL are flexing their muscles to isolate Kochi from its rightful position for personal and commercial gain then it will be right to name the INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE to INDIAN PAISA LEAGUE tainting the purity of the spirit of the game which we all have grown to love and worship.
