INDIAN PAISA LEAGUE

As the 50 day 'extravaganza' comes to a close yesterday, I experience a sigh of relief. Now at least, I can watch TV channels in which people would be talking of something other than IPL.

During the last 50 days, you turn on any TV channel, you find some X, Y and Z talking some crap about the match which was played the day before, the match which would be played the same day and matches which would be played on the subsequent days. They seem to 'analyse' the performance on real time basis. I wonder if any of their analyses, predictions and projections have ever come true or not.

Now you might tell me that if I am not interested, I shouldn't be watching the matches and the discussions or rather I must be watching some other channel. Yeah, I was trying to do exactly that. But, trust me, finding a channel devoid of IPL content seemed to be the toughest thing on earth.

Let alone the discussions, the controversies that followed were even worse. The whole nation was discussing nothing but IPL. All the discussions about Dantewada massacre and other national issues were simply sidelined. Just sit back and think, what was all the drama about? Was it really necessary?

If fund misappropriation was the issue, didn't the IT department smell the rot one or two years back? Why did not anyone question about the source of funds or fund utilisation last year or the year before when it was clearly evident that huge sums of money were involved.

The very fact that a player (read M S Dhoni) was paid 6 crores in the very first edition of the tournament should have raised eyebrows of the IT department. It took three years the resignation of a reputed Minister of the parliament for the government to wake up and look in to the situation.

It was quite obvious that all these drama would happen as everyone wants the monkey's share of anything and everything that involves money. As mentioned in my previous posts, cricket, glamour (Bollywood) and politics have deep rooted connections. But, this time, more than the Bollywood, it was the tussle between politics and cricket.

First of all, cricket and politics should be completely delinked. Other wise, you would know people like Sharad Pawar for being someone linked with the BCCI and the IPL rather than an Agricultural Minister. Other than his active participation in the controversies, has he made any impact or radical change in the Agricultural sector which is ailing because of multiple reasons and which requires immediate and urgent attention?

With due respect to all fans of this great game, my request to all the cricket fans would be to apply commonsense and intution to question corruption and nepotism. Let us not delude ourselves by digging ourselves in the sand like an ostrich and believe that cricket is pristine and clean.

There are so many aspiring cricketers dreaming of becoming a Tendulkar or a Kumble. Let us not dissappoint them by commercialising and killing the game. Let the spirit of the game be alive!!