This is not Love for Cricket. This is Bias for Cricket.

From the title and the pic on the left, you must have imagined what is this blog all about. I remember having discussions with many on the topic of Cricket vs Other Sports. Being a cricket lover doesn’t mean that I don’t respect other games, still i always support cricket on the very topic of cricket vs other sports. I am of the view that cricket is so popular in India due to the consistent performance of the cricketers and the success level of other sports is not of the level of Cricket. I believe that the sports lovers of India are ready to give equal respect and love to other sports and players if they win major tournaments consistently like the Indian cricket team.

But after the sporting events of the last and this week, i am rethinking my position. It seems to me that our love for cricket has turned into our bias for cricket. Probably this cover page of the The SportsStar (Jun 12-18 2004) clearly narrates the story.

In last 10 days, we saw Indian men cricket team crashing out of the T20 World Cup while our women team secured a place in the semifinals. The men team couldn’t even win a single game in the Super8 stage, rather surrendered in those matches. Strangely, India is considered as one of the strongest team in the world and it has failed to enter the semifinal stage of the last 3 ICC events (2009 T20 WC, 2009 Champions Trophy and 2010 T20 WC). To state the truth more bluntly, India has failed to win a single Super 8 matches in these 3 tournaments. On the other hand, the Indian eves entered the semifinal this year though not many were interested(or aware?) about the women T20 WC. Even it was shocking that many people came to know about the news today itself when the focus on the men team shifted though they had reached the semis 2 days before.

In other sports, India is doing pretty well though many are not aware of it. We can not blame the people for it. If the media doesn’t want to show us the news, how can we expect everyone to keep track of other sports? Indian Hockey Team defeated the Pakistan and the Australia convincingly in the Azlan Shah Cup Hocky. Can you please find the story for me in the paper? I am sure you will find the news of Indian defeats in cricket before these news. Even the stories of Vishwanathan Anand becoming the World Champion did not find the media space it deserved. News channels were showing this news as “Vishy brings smile on the face of Indians after India’s loss in T20 WC” and showing after the news of India’s defeat being shown.

Even after defeat, we are still talking about cricket. The stupidity of our Indian players were well exposed when the so-called great captain of the team blames the IPL parties for the loss. I wonder how the parties did not wear out the CSK (ironically captain’s team) players who won the IPL or the Australian, English or the Lankan players who are in the semifinal now. The excuse was poorer than the on-field performance. Still we are talking about cricket. News just I am watching while writing this blog that an agonized fan tears the jersey of Ashish Nehera when the players were ‘enjoying‘ after the loss to  Sri Lanka. On the other hand, there is no telecast of the Azlan Shah Cup Hockey in India. Our NATIONAL channel DoorDarshan fights to show India’s cricket match, but no channel showing India winning in our NATIONAL game. The hockey lovers of India who are fortunate to have internet access are tracking the matches through live commentary on the Azlan Shah Cup website. The hockey lovers who wait for the news in the media get disappointed after they end up seeing stories on India’s losses in Cricket.

Remember the kind of awards and honour we had bestowed on the cricket players after they won the 2007 T20 WC? Now, we hear the news that the head of the chess federation N Sreenivasan (yes, you guessed right, the secretary of the BCCI) has not yet sent a congratulatory message to the Chess World Champion Vishy Anand. (Read the blog by Sanjeeb Mukherjea on this: Being Real Cool) If this is the state of other sports, then who is to blame? Before blaming the players ( who are the ‘unlucky’ brothers of the rich cricketers) for not performing consistently, shouldn’t we blame the boards, the media and ourselves, who in the name of love for cricket actually possess bias for cricket.

[IMAGE COURTESY: THE SPORTS STAR (From the publishers of THE HINDU) ]

What the IPL!

For last one or two weeks, the IPL is a hot topic more because of its back screen politics than the cricket itself. The Tharoor- Modi saga has now turned into a bitter war. One head has already rolled and news channels are reporting that Modi’s days as the IPL chairperson is numbered. The issue is becoming more complex as not just the BCCI officials but the politicians of the country are involved in the issue.

The issue started with Modi’s allegations directed towards the former union minister and certainly a misfit in indian politics Mr Shashi Tharoor that Tharoor misused the public office to generate profit out of IPL through the Kochi team using Sunanda Pushkar (Tharoor’s ‘close’ friend). The case was certainly not a corruption case. I don’t think Tharoor would have invested money in IPL (through Sunanda) monetary gains. We know he has enough money as we had seen him living in 5star Hotels for months on his own money.

Here i assume him to be guilty of misuse of his office and stature. I used the word ‘assume’ because the allegations are not proved yet. But the way Congress distanced itself from him gives enough reasons to believe that he was guilty. He used his position as a Kerala MP and a union minister to induct his ‘close’ friend in that particular consortium that won the bid for the Kochi team. Seeking an IPL team and influencing a particular bidder to bid for an IPL team is two different thing and the latter is a case of impropriety which Mr Tharoor committed. This time he did not received the support from the lakhs of twitter users of India who used to support him in his previous cases of blunders. The PM, who has reportedly a soft corner for the 1st time MP turned minister, couldn’t save him this time. Sonia Gandhi rightly sensed that this issue has embarrassed the Congress party and the tactics of play late won’t work this time as the Parliament session was on. Reports also claim that the Congress party couldn’t believe on Tharoor’s explanations and forced him to resign. The process was further facilitated by his detractors in Kerala Congress as well as at the national level.

The resignation was certainly a sign of  ‘admission of guilt’. Tharoor played the regional card by terming the Kochi team as the dream of Kerala youth to remain in the scheme of things inside the party. But Tharoor’s loss was not the win for the Modi side. The IPL is a chicken laying Golden eggs and much more names involved with the money of IPL. Now to face its face, Government (read Congress) trying to get other names exposed and the first man on their target is Modi. The allegations by Mr Satyajit Gaekwad, part of the Kochi consortium, that Lalit Modi’s allegations are motivated to disquallify the Kochi bid to give the franchise to Ahmedabad and the man behind this act is Narendra Modi. He was keen to drag the other Modi’s name but the fact that he is an ex-Congress MP from Vadodara puts the credibility of his allegations in doubt. Though Narendra Modi’s wish to have an IPL team and the level of closeness of the two Modis are well-known but the allegation did not make any sense. But the agenda of the Congress was quite clear: discomfort Lalit Modi.

IT raids followed and suddenly the focus was shifted from Tharoor to Modi. The Modi detractors inside BCCI used the conditions well to make life uncomfortable for Modi. Now the news channels are reporting that Modi is set to go, but the genuine question still remains unanswered in the process: If IPL will be cleaned.

The answer lies in understanding the concept of IPL. We feel that IPL is a cricket league which is not. IPL is a business model which base is Cricket. Don’t you know that sometimes unfair means are used to generate success and profit in business? Why such euphoria then? Did you ever believe that every thing is fair in IPL? We have still not digested the fact that IPL is a profit-making business which help the players to make money and help the stakeholders to make even more money. If you see that from cricket’s point of view you may feel that something wrong is happening but if you see it from business point of view then it won’t seem a big issue to you. Yes, there may be use of unfair means but don’t the businessmen use such tactics? Why a different approach from the govt on this issue? Why the congress party openly directing the BCCI to sack Modi? Isn’t it like blood for blood and Modi for Tharoor? Why is it using some extra-constitutional measures to ensure that Modi gets out of the big business he has built over the years? Why is it insisting on Modi’s ouster even before any formal probe? Why big officials of BCCI trying hard to throw Modi out even before giving him a chance to explain his position?

I am not a fan of Modi but the way the govt. is baying for his blood just to take revenge and hide its own member’s guilt makes me to write this blog. We are proud of IPL which is the fastest booming sports league in the world and the standards of IPL are the work of Lalit Modi. If the govt. and BCCI biggies ensuring Modi’s ouster, can they ensure the same quality and standards of IPL in coming days? The question is yet to be asked and we are yet to hear any answer. What the hell! What the IPL!