IPL IS NOT ABOUT CRICKET ANYMORE

WILL THE GOVERNMENT BE BOLD ENOUGH TO OPEN UP EVERYONE'S STAKE IN IPL

Lalit Modi, when being pressurized to quit, had said openly in the media that if this happens, he will reveal the names of all IPL franchise stakeholders. This shows that there is something sinister about the IPL franchise stakeholders beyond Shahrukh, Preity Zinta, Vijay Mallya and Shilpa Shetty that we need to know. If the Government seriously think of the betrayal given to crores of cricket crazy Indians, it becomes its moral duty to lay open the details. But there is little hope that the Government will ever do so?

It was probably 12th of April. Sania and Shoaib were to marry in a few days time. And the murky canvas of the Tharoor-Modi spat in its initial stage. Tharoor was on the defensive and Modi, confident that his chair was secure, was hurling accusations at Tharoor one after another. We couldn’t have waited for the entire story to roll out as Life Watch’s 16th April issue was to go to press.
Through our cover story “Sab se badi brand value to ab hamari hai”, Life Watch became the first newspaper in India to point a finger at IPL’s murky dealings. Today, it is an open secret but when Life Watch penned down the story, few would have realized the nadir that Indian cricket has plunged to and that IPL is not about Cricket anymore. Several of our readers must have raised an eyebrow or smiled in disbelief when they saw the cover story. But as time would tell, it was proved once again that Life Watch was way ahead of others in pointing accusing finger at the dirt pit called IPL that comprises big money, politics, glamour, greed, sex, drugs, betting and intense backroom jostling.
When Shashi Tharoor actively began to promote the idea of a Kochi team and helped cobble together a consortium of investors – Rendezvous Sports World – to sponsor the team, he would have never dreamed that this step will open up a can of worms that will perhaps change IPL’s functioning for ever.
So much is already known that there is nothing that the Government can do but to act. However, considering the amount of money and the status of people who are involved in the shady deals, there is little hope that the Government would much beyond an eyewash.
Ponder for a while! What was so wrong if Sunanda Pushkar - a Dubai based real estate professional, who happened to be a friend of Tharoor - was taking 4.9% free equity in the team? Likewise, what was so wrong if Modi didn’t want a beautiful South African model, Gabriella Demetriades, to get an Indian visa? Yet, these seemingly innocuous happenings threatened to disrupt the Parliament, led to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding explanation from Tharoor and his subsequent resignation from Cabinet and even led to the ouster of Lalit Modi from IPL, which he had nurtured ever since the BCCI gave him the signal to counter the emerging ICL of Zee’s Subhash Chandra, headed by none else but Kapil Dev.
There’s no doubt that the pit is far muddier than you may think of. And this is the reason why heads rolled, as soon as the Pandora’s Box was opened. Several more sinister plots will come out in the open if the Government sincerely attempts at going to the roots. Unfortunately, it appears that the rich and the powerful within and with out the Government who have vested interests in IPL and have been part of some of the shadowy deals, will use all their forces to rein in the Government from going public with its findings.
Lalit Modi, when being pressurized to quit, had said openly in the media that if this happens, he will reveal the names of all IPL franchise stakeholders. This shows that there is something sinister about the IPL franchise stakeholders beyond Shahrukh, Preity Zinta, Vijay Mallya and Shilpa Shetty that we need to know. If the Government seriously think of the betrayal given to crores of cricket crazy Indians, it becomes its moral duty to lay open the details. But there is little hope that the Government will ever do so?