A major casualty of the controversies surrounding the high-flying IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is going to be the party culture of the high-profile twenty20 league
A major casualty of the controversies surrounding the high-flying IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is going to be the party culture of the high-profile twenty20 league
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| Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi |
Even if Lalit Modi survives the latest round of allegations leveled against him, it is highly unlikely that he will be able to go ahead with the Indian Premier League in its current set-up. In all probability, it will be the end of 'Cricketainment' and IPL will be purely about the game.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India is very upset at the kind of negative publicity that the recent IPL controversy has attracted, which includes allegations of betting, money laundering and shady cross-border deals. "It is the biggest crisis since match-fixing came to light. All that we had recovered post the match-fixing saga, is lost," a high-ranking BCCI official told MiD DAY.
Modi is at the centre of a storm following his comments on the Kochi franchise that cost Minister Shashi Tharoor his job.
While the flamboyant Modi Americanised the Twenty20 league by adding glamour and party culture, most BCCI officials are conservative in nature and are against the excessive dose of glamour on display in the IPL. They were always wary about Americanisation of cricket and believe the late night parties will sow the seeds of evil which could tarnish the image of the game further.
"It's a big misconceptionu00a0 that people buy the high-priced tickets in the IPL games because of entertainment, when it's the Tendulkars and Dhonis who are the actual crowd-pullers. Cricket can be run without the frills and still people will enjoy it," said a top BCCI official.
"What is this IPL night concept? The match ends at 11.30 and players have to attend parties at 12.30 am which go on till 5 in the morning. It's fine for the foreign players but think about the impact of such a lifestyle on our young players," he questioned.
With the government very keen to clean up the IPL, Modi's position has become untenable. Also, the BCCI officials are confident of running the IPL without Modi. The success of the IPL is mainly due to the organisational skills of IMG and with three years of experience they know that IPL is here to stay.
"It has become a case wherein absolute power corrupts. It (the betting revelations) has given a completely different angle to the whole controversy," said the upset Board member.
The IPL was conceptualised on the basis of the English Premier League, but one would do well to understand that the football league has remained about pure sport.
