IPL Should Beware

By Gulu Ezekiel

Cricket administrators, like Caesar’s wife, must always be above suspicion. But sadly some of the moves of the IPL have proved money cannot buy you common sense.
The match fixing scandal of the early 2000s still hangs over world cricket like a toxic cloud. And any hint of impropriety on the part of the organizers and the players must attract immediate attention.
It is astonishing then that the IPL could have come up with a scheme as suspicious as the sms prediction game.
Maybe the chances of this leading to corruption and match fixing are just “one in a million” as Lalit Modi said. But the fact that India’s sports minister had to come down harshly on the game with its gambling overtones is a harsh indictment of the money-before-all mentality of Modi and his minions.
That he has now had to eat humble pie and hurriedly withdraw the game after it was also condemned by former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar just goes to expose the commercial culture that pervades the IPL.
That is not all. It emerged recently that the IPL organizing committee decided not to utilize the services of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) due to the cost of $1.5 million. One can only scratch one’s head in wonder at an organization that spends huge amounts on lavish parties, cheerleaders and other frills, yet balks at something that would preserve the integrity of their baby.
The reason behind this is quite obviously the brouhaha raised last year by KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan when he was advised by the ACU’s officer to stay clear of the team dugout.
It is the owners who call the tune in the IPL and this year they have had a free run to come and go as they please.
The players’ area has always been off limits to all but the team and support staff. But the IPL likes to see itself as a fresh breeze blowing away cricket’s hoary traditions. It may however end up paying a very high price for its vanity.

www.sportshero.com (14/5/09)