Sunday’s decision by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to dump 2008 Indian Premier League champions Rajasthan Royals and Chandigarh-based Kings XI Punjab for alleged changes in their ownership pattern between the time bids were first made for teams and subsequent years has come as a blow to the burgeoning
property that the IPL has become. Not only does this send out the clear signal that toeing the BCCI line is the only way to survive in Indian cricket, it also targets those the board perceived were close to sacked IPL “commissioner” Lalit Modi. At the same time, the BCCI-run IPL governing council, which met in Mumbai over the weekend, gave the new Kochi franchise 10 days to sort out its problems, which in many ways reflect the reasons that the Royals and Kings XI were shown the door in the first place. Predictably, it has kicked off a storm of protest, not just by Lalit Modi — who was busy tweeting his outrage on Sunday — but also by a significant section of the owners of other IPL teams, notably Vijay Mallya of Bangalore Royal Challengers as well as by those more directly affected: Preity Zinta of the Punjab side and Shipla Shetty and Raj Kundra of the Jaipur-based Royals.
In essence, the BCCI’s step underlines the moves it made over the last few months to take back total control over the IPL in every aspect, which had clearly not been the case in the three years Mr Modi and his team ran the extravaganza. As part of the initial document, the franchisees had to make a commitment that no change in ownership patterns or other significant alterations would take place without the IPL governing council and the board itself being informed. Yet both the Royals and the Kings had apparently made a number of switches in ownership and investment patterns. On this seeming technicality, the axe fell on the two teams that apparently have some links to Mr Modi and his family, however tenuous. It remains to be seen if the BCCI’s action can withstand legal scrutiny in the event of the aggrieved parties choosing to go to court. The immediate outcome of this move for the IPL’s fourth round next year is that instead of 10 teams that would have been in the fray with two new inductions, the IPL returns to the more familiar eight-team format. There had been more that a few voices raised expressing concern over the amount of cricket the Indians in particular were required to play, especially in the aftermath of the World T20 debacle in the West Indies.
The other aspect of the BCCI’s action is the complete and utter disregard shown to what should have been its basic constituency — the Indian cricket fan. Each of the eight franchise cities have painstakingly and at great cost and effort generated and nurtured a following, not just in their respective catchment areas but across the country and beyond. So what happens to those who owed loyalty to the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab? Are they to be casually discarded as some scores have to be settled? Surely those who run the game need to think of the sentiments, and the interests, of cricket lovers — for it is only on the basis of their money and support that the game has reached where it has today. But then, this is a familiar story for those in charge of sport in India — for whom athletes, players and the paying public are distractions, rather than being the reason for their very existence. The utter chaos that heralded almost every aspect of the ongoing Commonwealth Games in New Delhi is a very good example of this uncaring mindset.