IPL clean-up: Jagguda plan has Chennai blessing

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A major plan is afoot to clean up the game of cricket, particularly its commercial arm, the IPL.
 
It’s as yet unclear whether it is Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya who is refurbishing the game on his own initiative or he is merely acting under the promptings of the cricket administrator who still pulls the strings with the support of at least two-thirds of BCCI member associations, N. Srinivasan, the temporarily displaced BCCI president. But what is clear is a thorough cleansing is likely to take place.
 
The real story is a signal has been sent from the person nearest to the highest in the land to clean up the game, which is why the Delhi police have been given a free hand to do their job and get the big fish regardless of their political affiliations. BCCI’s actions are also being watched keenly. But the board is unlikely to go to the extreme of disaffiliating the offending IPL teams as yet. It is banking on presenting its cleaning up charter as proof of its intentions.
 
Mr Dalmiya’s ideas, like putting a stop to the cheerleaders — seen more in the public eye as IPL’s item numbers — and the after parties have already been inked into a 16-point plan to clean up the premier league. If this does not clean up the game, the IPL would be in danger of being taken to the cleaners. The game simply cannot afford to lose its basic TV media rights fee of `800 crore a year plus the Champions League cash cow that also helps the Australian and South African cricket boards.
 
While a source very close to Mr Dalmiya admits that he may be acting under instructions right now, he also points out that the Kolkata cricket honcho was the one who ideated the most effective ways to change the image of IPL by putting the cricket up front. Taking the dancing girls out of the equation and chopping off owner access to the dugout are ideas that the senior administrator and former ICC president floated even before he was thrust into the role of interim head of the working committee.
 
Insiders reveal that BCCI is in no hurry to suspend the two IPL teams not only because one of them belongs to the president’s cement company but also because of the huge legal complications in chucking teams out of IPL. BCCI experienced this when it disenfranchised Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals a few years ago only to be reprimanded by the courts. 
 
BCCI believes the action of suspending betting owners pending enquiry and banning cricketers until the judicial process is over is a safer legal route. Mr Raj Kundra, the banished Rajasthan Royals coowner, might, however, disagree.
 
“The treatment has been equitable. While members did shout initially about teams, almost all the discussion was about Mr Raj Kundra. Whatever his protestations, he has been questioned and his passport seized. He has been given the same treatment as Gurunath Meiyappan of Chennai Super Kings who has also been suspended from all cricket activities pending enquiry,” says an insider who attended the working committee meeting. The same member mentions that while Mr Dalmiya may seem to be carrying out instructions now he
would also like to resurrect his image that took a hit because he seemed to do nothing as ICC president when the first big betting scandal rocked Indian cricket in the year 2000.
 
“Don’t be surprised if Mr Dalmiya becomes his own man soon enough and cleans up the game thoroughly in three months so that he can make up for not having acted when he had the chance as the head of world cricket,” says another source close to the cricket strongman from the East. 
 
Also, the Delhi police have briefed Mr Arun Jaitley extensively about the betting links of cricketers and owners and Mr Kundra’s case could get complicated; his arrest too at some stage is not ruled out. CSK and RR are safe for the moment but that could change depending on what the Delhi police do in the near future.