The Indian Premier League and Sleaze Money

Shashi Throor the Junior Minister in the Indian cabinet has resigned on 18 April 2010. Whether he was part of a betting syndicate or a front for money from Dubai may not be established. But what cannot be denied is that he had some involvement in the entire episode of the franchise being given for the Kochi team.

The result of Throor's resignation has wide ramifications.Available evidence certainly suggests that all's not well with the financial dealings of the premier League.The matters that need to be probed are no longer limited to the auctions of the Kochi franchises but cover the entire league which is under a cloud of suspicion. A clean up of the cricket establishment led by the BCCI( Board of Control for Cricket in India)and its child the IPL has become essential.

Cricket in India is more of a religion and has a tremendous following.Thus when the idea of the IPL was mooted it was thought that it would galvanize the game as well as give much needed boost to cricket at the grass roots level. More money was expected to flow in and the lot of the average cricket player was expected to improve. But the organizers had not catered for the fact that slush funds and sleaze money would also flow in as a natural corollory.

This state of affairs cannot be dismissed out of hand and perhaps Lalit Modi the CEO of IPL will have a lot of explanations to give. The IT sleuts are on the track at the behest of the Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee.The Intelligence Bureau in its report on 18 April 2010 ( as reported in the Times of India) has also pointed to money from Dubai coming for the auction for the Franchise of the Kochi team. This is certainly a disturbing thought.

Mahesh Bhat in his movie ' Jannat ' released last year had shown the nexus of money and the game of cricket.This is not a romantic myth but a reality, for there is little doubt that the IPL has been to an extant taken over by unscruplous adventurers. It is a pity that an intelligent man like Shashi Throor also became part of this syndicate.

But there are many more in the wings whose identity is hidden.Unless the game is not nurtured carefully, there is a good chance that the gains of the last 2 years may just evaporate.There is thus a real fear that sleaze money as well as hard cash from the gangsters holed up in the middle east with their betting rackets may capture the league. That would be sad indeed.

Cricket is a gentlemens game and a gift of the English people to the world. Thus the phrase 'Its not cricket !' is synonymous with fair play and conduct.We cannot allow this noble game to degenerate into a haven for sleaze money and betting syndicates. The present lot of people at the helm have some hard decisions to make and that can include the sacking of Lalit Modi the present CEO. Maybe the governemnt may have to step in. In the mean time we can keep our fingers crossed.