MODI OUT, BUT WHO WILL FIX THE BIGGER MESS?

On Sunday night when Kieron Pollard was trying to play the innings of his life in the final few overs to take Mumbai Indians home, another man in the stadium was also trying everything possible in the book to save his job as the chief of IPL. But for Lalit Modi this time around all his shots had failed. The BCCI just a few minutes after the final ball was bowled at the D.Y. Patil stadium clean bowled Modi. He was e-mailed his suspension letter which effectively meant that he could not attend the bigger final on Monday- the IPL governing council meeting.

The suspension of Lalit Modi without even given a chance to offer an explanation is definitely unfair. True, the man ran the IPL like his own private business and if the
allegations against him turn out to be true then he should be tried and punished for the same. No matter how big is the crime, the accused is always given a chance to defend himself under a fair trial and even Modi deserves a chance.

But the biggest highlight of the whole series of ugly events has been the manner in which the BCCI has crucified one man for the whole IPL mess. No doubt Lalit Modi was the chief of IPL and he is the prime accused but it was not only Modi who was running the IPL. There are twelve other members on the governing council of the IPL which include the BCCI president Shashank Manohar, three strong politicians & three former Indian captains. So how can all of them be given a clean chit that too by themselves? Isn’t the BCCI president who heads the cricket board morally responsible for what has happened? Shouldn’t the whole governing council resign so that a ‘fair’ investigation can take place? Shashank Manohar said in the press conference that the reason for Modi’s suspension is to have a ‘fair’ investigation without any hindrances. Doesn’t that apply to the whole IPL governing council?

The end result- the IPL governing council remains intact minus Modi, with some of its members being promoted and given bigger responsibilities. How can this council be trusted when they failed to question the very functioning of the same IPL in the last three years? This is one of the biggest failures on the corporate governance front. The whole issue of corporate governance was raised during the ‘Satyam’ fiasco and its back to haunt us again.

The issue is not restricted to the IPL only. This issue also raises doubts on the whole functioning of the BCCI. Many would argue that BCCI is a private body and therefore is not accountable. The fact that they run the most popular sport of this nation makes it mandatory for them to be accountable to the people of this country. Because cricket is not their private property- it belongs to the whole nation which adores the sport. The BCCI is accountable to the government for the simple fact that the government has exempted BCCI to pay taxes being a private trust. The government also provides them all kinds of facilities from stadiums to police security for matches and does not charge them a penny even though it’s run by a private body. And thanks to all these exemptions, BCCI is the second richest sports body in the world with annual revenues running into billion of dollars.

And finally, why is it that Shashi Tharoor had to resign? Doesn’t that rule apply to Pawar & Patel whose names have cropped up during the last few weeks? Or will the Congress this time again stifle under coalition pressure like it did during the A Raja controversy on the telecom 2G spectrum front sometime back. The government will have to ensure that a thorough enquiry is conducted not only into the IPL but the whole functioning of BCCI. This is a golden opportunity for the government to clean the stinking corruption embedded in cricket administration which is so essential for the sport to grow. If it fails to do so then cricket would continue to remain the golden goose which will keep giving golden eggs to a handful of politicians & businessmen of this country.

THAROOR PAYS THE PRICE, BUT WILL MODI SURVIVE?

It was Modi’s in swinging yorker that saw Tharoor’s middle stump flying out of the ground. Many would term Tharoor’s resignation as a victory for Lalit Modi & the BJP. But the fact remains that this IPL (Indian Political League) like the original one is not over yet. And there can still be a twist in the Tale.

Sonia Gandhi & Dr Singh’s decision not to back Tharoor had one key element attached to it. Both didn’t want the current UPA to be linked to any form of corruption charges. Tharoor might be a bit unlucky also as probably his intention was not to make money himself but the route chosen by him to participate in the IPL frenzy has cost

him dearly. From the time reports surfaced on Tharoor’s participation in the bidding process, he was in trouble. Being a little too straightforward for Indian politics which led to him acknowledging that he was mentoring the Kochi side and never shy of roaming with his love interest in public has cost him dearly. Now a mentor can be interpreted in different ways. Similarly his proximity to Sunanda Pushkar who happens to be a stake holder in the Kochi consortium without investing a penny was something too crude to digest for Indian polity. That’s exactly what Modi & the BJP did. And with each passing day a new revelation of Tharoor’s role kept emerging.

But Congress’s larger game plan was not only to keep its track record clean but also to launch a counter attack on the BJP led opposition. Even before Pranab announced that IPL will be probed and the guilty will not be spared, the Income tax department was on the game

The reason why Tharoor lost the first round to Modi many would say is because the former was a minister; hence he was a public servant, while Modi heads a private entity and is not accountable to the public directly. But there are other reasons as well which is why Modi survived the initial attack atleast. The first advantage Modi had was that he might be close to the BJP, but he is not a BJP worker officially. So even if they attack Modi, the Congress cannot link him directly to the saffron party. Moreover Congress ally Sharad Pawar is openly backing Modi.

But with the I-T department determined to implicate Modi, this just might be the tip of the iceberg. If Modi is sacked by the BCCI or taken to task for the alleged financial mishaps within the IPL, he will not go out silently but will make the whole BCCI face the music. IPL is a subsidiary of the BCCI, so if Lalit Modi is indicted so will be the IPL and invariably the BCCI. And if that happens then we will see a Pandora’s Box being opened. And with the likes of Sharad Pawar, Arun Jaitley & Farooq Abdullah on the BCCI council, this could lead to a major political storm. Not only are politicians involved but even the big corporates are involved in the BCCI & the IPL

N.Srinivasan who is the vice-chairman of India Cements owns the Chennai Super Kings. And Mr Srinivasan also happens to be the secretary of the BCCI. K.Srikanth is the official brand ambassador of the same team and he also happens to be the chief national selector of the BCCI. So wasn’t there a conflict of interest right from the first round of bidding which happened in 2008? It’s now a direct battle between the government and the BCCI backed by politicians & strong corporates.

But in the end the biggest loser is not the political class, but the brand IPL itself. Though till now there are no signs of the audience rejecting the tournament because of the latest controversy, but IPL as a sporting brand which is becoming a global phenomenon has definitely taken a beating. A brand which has made India proud may become a tainted sporting property. And again the culprits remain the same as they have always been in the last six decades- politics, money & corruption.

CRICKET: THE TOOL FOR DIPLOMATIC WAR

The IPL auction which saw absolutely no bidding for Pakistani players has left the whole of Pakistan fuming & has lead to a diplomatic war between the two sides….Lalit Modi in his defense kept stating that ‘performance’ & ‘availability’ were the criteria based on which the franchises selected the players…

Mr Modi did not do his homework as he forgot that Pakistan are the T20 champions and out of the eleven Pakistani players put for auction most of the players were part of the winning team. And as far as availability is concerned…Pakistan has no tour lined up for March & April when the IPL is scheduled to take place…So this theory stands no ground. It could probably be a sort of a

pay-back time for the government to send a message to Modi to not get into a direct confrontation with the government as he did last year. The sad fact of the matter is that Modi is becoming bigger than the event…And this is a peril for IPL

The franchise haven’t come out in the open with a vivid explanation for the non-inclusion of Pakistani players in their teams but some of them have referred the unanimous decision to ‘security issues’ which they won’t be able to provide nor is the government ready to guarantee for any players. But home minister P.Chidambaram’s comment that the non-selection of Pakistani players was a ‘disservice’ to cricket has punched a big hole in the explanation given by the franchises.

The IPL fiasco has united the political fraternity, cricketers & the people of Pakistan. This move has given the government of Pakistan the much needed ammunition to attack the Indian government. The saddest aspect of the whole event is that the people across the border have perceived as political decision with the backing of the Indian people. Though the Indian media & the Indian cricket fraternity has condemned the whole event...

Lalit Modi handled this situation in a very abysmal manner. Ideally, the IPL along with all the franchises should have issued a statement to the Pakistan cricket board before the auction itself that they won’t be able to include the players in the auction as the franchises won’t be able to provide security for the players. Altleast by doing this the dignity of the players would have remained intact. No doubt that some clamor would have been raised by the Pakistan cricket board or even the government but atleast the players would not have felt humiliated.

Another loser is IPL the tournament itself. The fact that IPL projects itself is a fusion of cultures where there are no political boundaries, racial divide or religious conflicts have been contradicted by this very event. History is a testimony that cricket has played a pivotal role in bringing both the nations together. Whether it was the standing ovation for the Pakistan team after it beat India in Chennai in 1999 or the stupendous welcome for the Indian team when it visited Pakistan in 2004. IPL had the golden chance to recreate that magic but alas! They have dropped it… Even art & culture has been instrumental in bridging the divide. Bollywood movies and actors are a rage in Pakistan while Pakistani singers are admired by Indians…Art, culture and especially cricket have bolstered the warmth & affection between the citizens of both countries.

But if we start using them as tools for fighting a diplomatic war then the situation will deteriorate even more. And this is exactly what the terror groups in Pakistan & the rightist groups in India want. They want to create a situation where even people to people link breaks and creates more acrimony between the two sides.

The only silver lining is the stand taken by the Indian government which at least by condemning the handling of the whole issue has send the message that it is fighting a war against terrorists operating out of Pakistan not the people or cricketers of Pakistan…It’s high time that the likes of Modi look beyond commercial interest as that will enhance the reputation of Indian cricket & the sport itself….

IPL 3 might go on raking big bucks and once the TRP’s kick in the whole episode would be forgotten but no global cricket tournament is complete with out the representation of all the cricketing giants…The IPL sheen would be missing this time around thanks to the absence of Pakistani players…

IPL Vs IPL

The summer of 2009 was truly special for televison viewers. The two biggest television events of India took place at the same time. The Indian Premier League in South Africa & the Indian Political League (Elections 2009) kept the audience enthralled from April to May. What made this even more interesting was the fact that, there was a huge clash between the two in March, which saw IPL shifting to South Africa due to security concerns. There was a huge debate on whether it was the right decision to move IPL out of India. It was interesing to see both the reality events clash with each other on the small screen. But who won this battle?



To judge the winner of the television battle would be tough, if we go by the day to day data for both the events.But if we pick up the two most important days for both the events- 16th May, the day elections results were announced & 24th May, the day IPL 2 final was played, then it would be a fair comparison. There are broadly two parameters to judge the success of a event/program on television- 1) Total viewership – the total number of people that tuned in to catch the event & 2) TVR ( Televison Viewership Rating)- This also includes the ‘amount of time spend’ by the audience watching the event. From a commercial perspective, TVR is more important for an advertiser than the total viewership.

The total viewership for Election 2009 results on 16th May, according to, TAM Peoplemeter System (Televison Viewership Agency) was 60 million. Close to 45 million watched the coverage on Hindi news channels, while the remaining 15 million witnessed the political drama unfolding on English news channels. On the otherhand, the IPL 2 final on 24th May, according to aMap (Televison Viewership Agency) was 11.7 million. This was higher than last year’s IPL final.



The TVR for Election 2009 final (16th May) was 10% on Hindi channels & 1.08% on English channels. The combined total for both Hindi & English news channels comes up to 11.08%. Now, the TVR for IPL 2 grand final was 8.3%, slightly lower than last year’s IPL final.Surprisingly for many, Election 2009 emerged as the clear winner in the television battle.
Though one major difference between the two remains that, Elections 2009 threw one clear winner, in the form of UPA. IPL 2, on the other hand had two winners- Deccan Chargers & Lalit Modi (Thanks to the moolah IPL 2 earned).


Published on - http://behindindia.com/india-news-stories/article/ipl-03-06-09-1.html