Although not an IPL fan, I wanted to browse through the daily newspapers to see how my favourites, Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, and Matthew Hayden were going in India. But there was hardly a paragraph in the Aussie broadsheets and tabloids.
Nor was there a word on some of the thrillers and exciting performances by Kallis, Tendulkar, Raina, Pollard, Bollinger and Dhoni. Well, it’s the footy season Down Under, and editors would not have space for meaningless matches by “bought” players.
Fair enough, I thought.
But the press woke up from their cricketing slumber when there were low intensity bomb blasts in Bangalore last week. And now suddenly space is available when the Board of Control for Cricket in India suspended Lalit Modi as IPL Chairman for “alleged acts of individual misdemeanours.”
It would have got even more space had the salary cap controversy of Melbourne Storm not erupted about the same time.
We love to read about controversies – especially scandals – be it in sports, politics, music or literature. It is the same in television series, from “Number 96″ to “Desperate Housewives”.
Is it because we love scandals that the media splash it on for our consumption or is it because the press highlights the unsavoury incidents that we get deeply engrossed? It is similar to what came first, the chicken or the egg?
We have barely got out of the Tiger Woods sex scandals and the Michael Clarke-Lara Bingle split and now we are once again enthralled by the Melbourne Storm and IPL irregularities.
I hope we read more about magnificent cover drives, towering sixes, rare dot balls, centuries and hat-tricks and uniquely obsolete maidens in ICC World Twenty20 starting in the West Indies on Friday rather than on unsavoury money laundering and sexual escapades.
It’s a pity four of the current most scintillating batsmen – Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar – will not be there to inspire the Caribbeans to compose calypsos on them.
But they may come up with something that goes: “Day-o, day-o, daylight comes and we don’t wanna go home till we see Ricky, Gilly, Viru and Sachin perform!”
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Marsh said | April 28th 2010 @ 2:15am | Report comment
So I hear Warnie is being linked to match fixing in the IPL. 1. Are we surprised the IPL is corrupt? 2. Are we surprised that Warnie seems to be involved?
vinay verma said | April 28th 2010 @ 8:44am | Report comment
Kersi, unfortunately the exquisite cover drive cannot compete with nubile cheerleaders. Simon Barnes put it succintly when he said ” Everywhere I look,you hear stories of people who have taken the sport out of sport”
I am not against the IPL because it gives players another option. It also gives umpires extra income. The IPL generates a lot of money for the BCCI and if this money is used wisely to develop infrastructure at the grassroots then cricket will be richer. However,knowing the structure of the BCCI and their past record I am not optimistic. The current situation will probably be swept under the carpet and we will have more of the same except that it will not be on twitter.
Coming to the actual cricket Australia played a warmup game against Zimbabwe overnight and lost by 3 runs. Warner scored 70 odd and Clarke a sedate 40 something. Brett Lee bowled 4 overs for 13 runs and would appear to be the pick of the bowlers. Johnson picked up 4. Being a warm up match I would not read too much into it but Australia seem to have the firepower to do well. Hauritz may miss out in the first two games as they play Bangladesh and Pak who are better at playing spin then pace. In any case Australia have good options in Smith,David Hussey and Michael Clarke.
I expect Australia to cruise into the Super 8′s and progress to at least the semis.
sheek said | April 28th 2010 @ 9:29am | Report comment
Hi Kersi,
I must admit the Storm fiasco has attracted my attention these past few days. I’m not a big IPL fan myself, & the stories of corruption there don’t surprise me.
Considering the huge money involved, & how quickly the whole thing was cobbled together, I’m not surprised allegations of corruption have come to light.
Human greed cuts across all boundaries, all cultures, all sports. Sad…..
Dave01 said | April 28th 2010 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
Cricket is the one sport that thrives on continual crisis’s.
The problem is that with the referral system being such a great success…..Umpiring controversies are a thing of the past.
This is why Modi and the IPL will be a great thing for the game.