Tuesday, March 24, 2009

IPL:Indian Political League

Enough of hype and hoolah around IPL. What started out as a innovation in cricket , at the culmination of its first league turned out to be an entertainment gamble which paid off money in millions to the organizers and players. It sparked off war of words between the franchise owners over the selection of players. Then it metamorphosed into a dream to play for, even among prominent international cricketers. England who had opted out joined the bandwagon. The auction which was conducted just months before was another slap on the face of the common man, tycoons like Vijay Mallya paying 7.2 crores to Peterson while firing employees who merely earn in thousands in the name of recession. But the juggernaut rolled on.
Finally it has hit the roadblock in the name of elections. For those who consider it more important than the general elections, well I don't have anything to say. It is nothing but the arrogance of the organizers and the BCCI to be stressing upon having the event amidst such security crunch. In fact, IPL has now become the Indian "Political" league now. With politicians reaping out benefits from each and every leaf that falls from a tree, this is like a boon. They have started throwing stones at each other. Statements like moving out IPL out of India are a National shame is exaggeration. After all this is just a game and that too not something like an Olympics or a commonwealth games. At the same time, the decision to move out is not justified either. Sample this, Chennai Super Kings Vs Mumbai Indians at Centurion Park or Lords. How exciting does this sound? I feel that IPL should wait for the other big game, the politicians game to finish off and then begin somewhere in October when the weather will be ideal for playing in India and be the true Indian Premier league. As for the existing schedule which will be affected by this move, well we can’t have a win-win situation always. Let’s say, this is the price we pay for not foreseeing the elections while planning the IPL 2.