IPL

IPL Round-Up:Dates, auctions,rules and arbitration

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Life goes on and so does the IPL.

The IPL Governing Council met on Wednesday, the 19th of November, 2010 and it was business as usual.

The council members seem untouched by the sordid drama enacted on various stages.

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IPL Round-up: Kochi on verge of going belly up, Kings XI ‘courts’ BCCI

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Is it the end of the road for the Kochi consortium? A Daily News & Analysis (DNA) report would have us believe so.

Vijay Tagore reports that at a meeting held on Friday, the 12th of November, 2010, the franchisee owners agreed to write to the Board Of Control For Cricket in India (BCCI) to cancel the team.The letter is to be submitted this Monday or Tuesday. This is a good two weeks before the deadline extended by the BCCI.

(Well, if there’s bad news to be had , you might as well receive it early.)

The irreconcilable differences in the cobbled-together-unit could not stand the scrutiny of day. The members’ sole concern is to recover the money and bank guarantee submitted to the Board.The agreement fee was $10 million (Rs. 45 crore) and the bank guarantee Rs. 153 crore , 10 per cent of the team’s worth.

In this case, it does seem a case of a terrible beginning making for an equally tragic ending.

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Cricketing Bytes: Tendulkar, racism, UDRS and Modi again

Just when you thought that there were no more honours that could be bestowed on Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the ICC goes ahead and names him the official event ambassador for the 2011 World Cup.

The master batsman will support and promote a variety of ICC initiatives for the World Cup.This will also be Tendulkar’s sixth World Cup, thus joining Javed Miandad at the top of the heap.

Another South African , former coach Mickey Arthur has joined Herschelles Gibbs in opening up the can of worms that is South African cricket. In his book “Taking The Mickey”, Arthur has revealed that Hashim Amla’s elevation to the SA ODI team was delayed as he was forced to play Loots Bosman instead succumbing to race politics.

Hashim Amla currently tops the ICC ODI rankings. Arthur resigned as coach early this year.

After expressing his unwillingness to use the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), India captain MS Dhoni has done a volte face and now come out in support of the system.

Dhoni on Thursday:

"The standard of umpiring has gone down and we need to have strong measures to improve that,"

"But, as I have said earlier, I am not going to buy a life jacket that doesn’t come with a warranty,"

"At times you tend to make mistakes. The umpires are also most of the time thinking about over rates and player behaviour,"

Dhoni also came out in support of struggling Gautam Gambhir ahead of the second Test against New Zealand at Hyderabad on Friday.

Gautam was ICC Test cricketer of the year in 2009.

Meanwhile, Chris Cairns is suing ex-IPL commissioner Lalit Modi for posting a Twitter accusing him of match-fixing .Cairns was withdrawn from the IPL auction this year. The tweet was later retracted but Cairns has taken Modi to court alleging the damage had already been done. Cairns claims that he left the Chandigarh Lions , an ICL team, because of fitness issues after damaging his knees.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. Mae West

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The IPL Lull: Sunny still simmers, Chahar heads the domestic signup roster

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The IPL saga saw a lull in the proceedings because of the Diwali holidays. Indian fans were quite content enjoying the fireworks on display at Motera with Sehwag and Bhajji eking out explosive knocks.

But the IPL has not quite escaped the news. The side actors have played their part.

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Why The IPL Is More Soapy Than A Soap Opera (Satire)

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Think of soap operas and you recollect Santa Barbara and The Bold And The Beautiful.These two television sagas defined the term soaps for an Indian audience used to the humdrum dished out by the national television channel, Doordarshan.SB and The B & The B enthralled Westernised Indian audiences.

For the Hindi speaking public and those who still stuck to Doordarshan, Hum Log and Buniyaad were always available as TV dinner fare.

But for those who were suddenly exposed to choice, there was no turning back from the influence of MTV and Star TV. Jaded television audiences were suddenly invigorated.

Santa Barbara and The Bold And The Beautiful worked with a tried and tested formula :Money, sex and power in a potent mix.

The recent goings-on in and around the IPL have all the classic makings of a soap.Drama and pathos , joy and pain, glory and ignominy — it has it all.

Money, glamour ,sex appeal , a decamping honcho, exotic locations, politics, the mafia and more twists and turns than a pot-boiler — these have the audience on tenterhooks.Once you hook them, they just keep coming back for more. They just can’t get enough.

A much desired look at the elements that make the IPL a favourite with the Indian news channels:

1> Money

Does the IPL have money? Yes, and how!

The IPL is a huge pot of money, and the lure of lucre draws participants from all the Test playing entities. It has also acquired its own share of imitators; the least, the very own Maharashtra Premier League and now the Australian Big Bash. It has become a huge success; a showcasing of Indian organizational capabilities , management, marketing and branding.

The IPL is reputed to be the second highest paid league (on a pro-rata basis) , second only to the NBA.

(The NBA may no longer retain that sobriquet if the NBA team owners have their way. Negotiations are sought to control player wages.But that’s another story altogether.)

The first three editions of the IPL consisted of eight teams — each playing each other twice in home and away games. The top four teams qualified for the knockout phase.

Listed below are the acquisition prices paid by the owners for each team:

In March 2010, an auction for two additional teams was conducted by the BCCI.The auction was a huge success with a record amount garnered by the BCCI.

The Sahara Group won the Pune Warriors franchise for the astronomical sum of $ 370 million and the Kochi franchise cost the Rendezvous Group and its partners the princely sum of $ 333 million.

Yes, it’s about the money, honey! Make no mistake about it! The IPL’s unofficial theme song is : “Money, money, money! It’s a rich man’s world!”

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2> Glamour

The IPL has its own share of glamour. Owners of three franchisees, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkatta KnightRiders and Kings XI Punjab happen to be film stars — Shilpa Shetty, Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta. Shah Rukh is acknowledged as the unofficial czar of Bollywood.

The IPL would have always have its share of the limelight but the presence of movie stars and the attendant publicity boosted the glamour quotient to Himalayan heights.

The liquor baron , Vijay Mallya who incidentally co-owns the Force India F1 team brings his own heady brand of glamour to the IPL.  The Kingfisher logo is visible everywhere the IPL goes.

Nita Ambani stepped out of the shadow of her more glamorous sister-in-law, Tina, to head the Mumbai Indians show. She displayed a level of business and cricketing acumen rarely associated with boardroom wives.

The mix of foreign players and domestic aspirants was another novelty experienced for the first time in Indian cricket stadia.

(The Indian football clubs may have had a few foreign recruits—second string Nigerian and Brazilian peddlers but nothing on this scale had ever been attempted in the annals of Indian sport.)

Cheerleaders for each team to keep the crowd entertained and energised was another concept borrowed from the NBA and the NFL.The first season of the IPL had Vijay Mallya rope in the Washington Redskins of the NFL to root for his side. The Bangalore outfit’s female squad are now known as the White Mischief girls.

The 3rd season of the IPL was even more hedonistic than the preceding ones. Private parties followed each game — cricketers,cheerleaders, owners and their entourage all conjoined together to have a ball off the field. The players were soon complaining of fatigue during IPL 3. It wasn’t the games that wore them down; it was the non-stop partying and the traveling!

3> Exotic Locations

The IPL is about home and away matches.Some teams have just one home stadium to boast of; others like the Mumbai Indians can choose from up to four venues.

Playing the games involves traveling the length and breadth of the country.From Mumbai to Jaipur to Kolkata to Mohali to Bengaluru to Hyderabad to Chennai to Delhi.

It’s just one distant destination to another, sampling the culinary delights across the length and breadth of the vast country.

The clash with the general elections in April-May 2009 forced the IPL to be played on foreign shores.Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth , Johannesburg were ports of call for our young aspiring Indian stars fortunate to be part of the IPL.

4> The Mafia

It would be foolish to think the IPL untouched and unsullied by the illegal betting syndicate.

If Test matches are subject to spot-fixing , then T20 games are even more susceptible to rigging given that every ball is significant.T20 is eminently suited to ‘matka’ dealings precisely because of its format.

No evidence of match or spot-fixing has ever surfaced though. Perhaps, the ICC Anti-Corruption Board has had a salutary effect.

The Indian underground , however, hit the headlines with regards to the threats made to Lalit Modi’s life.The ex-IPL honcho is currently in London surrounded by bodyguards fearing for his safety. A letter from the Mumbai Police detailing the danger has been provided to the Enforcement Directorate as proof of genuineness.

And here , you and I believed that it was the Sopranos that was about the Mafia!

5> Politics

The BCCI is a political (oops, I mean politicised) organization. Curry favour with the state cricket associations and you can get your cronies elected to the BCCI chair.The IPL could not avoid it’s politicisation even though it tried.

For a while, it seemed that the IPL would be run like a truly professional business organisation but that was not to be.Nepotism raised its evil head.Lalit Modi was discovered to have a hand in the pie; not in one , but two IPL teams.The term ‘conflict of interest’ was obviously not in his dictionary.

To his credit or discredit, N Srinivasan of Chennai Super Kings too did not appear to suffer any qualms when confronted with the term.

The politics of it all had External Affairs minister Shashi Tharoor defend himself and his then fiancée Sunanda Pushkar on the floor of Indian parliament. Tharoor’s twittering critics were not to be silenced though. The suave minister lost his portfolio but not before the aspersions cast on the IPL honcho brought the heavy hand of the Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate down on the IPL constituents. The well-knit web began to unravel; the BCCI found itself at the receiving end of adverse publicity. Lalit Modi presided over the third season of IPL3 only to be summarily stripped of his powers the very next day.

Since then the IPL ,the BCCI and Lalit Modi have provided additional grist to the rumour mill.The other minor participants have not failed to add their little salacious  bits and pieces as well.

The television channels have no complaints; whenever a story regarding the IPL breaks out, they can parade a few experts who will ramble on about the shady goings-on in the IPL. It wouldn’t surprise you to find the very same experts on ano
ther channel within the next half-hour!

A full hour dedicated to the ‘new’ story and cricket fans (and non-fans) can never get enough of the sordid drama played out.

6> Twists and Turns

But for a soap opera to hold its viewers’ interests, it should be unpredictable, it should have many side-shows, the gelling of protagonists in alternate dramas to finally culminate for a pulsating finish.

The IPL i.e. the tournament is all about drama.

It starts off slowly and seductively like a slow dance; the initial league phase, the first round of matches is just a warming up for the second part of the season when the return games provide most of the drama.

Many is the time when it has come down to just one match that would decide which team goes into the final four playoffs.

And then there’s the nail-biting tension of the Super Over, heaven forbid it , if the scores are tied.

Before the season begins , the player auctions are a source of suspense as well.

Which team will acquire which player? What will the price tag be?

The player auctions resemble the slave markets of yore — which teams will get the gladiators they need or deserve?

Will the purse strings come undone? Or will there still be some to go around?

The curtain-raiser to IPL4 witnessed the tendering process for two new franchises.

Who would win? Did anyone foresee the success of the Kochi bid?

The Shashi Tharoor-Lalit Modi spat, the consequent resignation of the External Affairs minister and the final denouement — the sacking of the man who could do not put a foot wrong, Lalit Modi — who could have predicted or envisaged the turn of events?

Throw in the expulsion of the two teams Kings Punjab XI and Rajasthan Royals, the termination notice to the still-born Kochi franchise, and there’s humour and catastrophe in the same act — a comedy for some, a tragedy for others. In retrospect it might all seem farcical but what an expensive, costly burlesque! Are the actors but marionettes and puppets?

Season 4 of the IPL is in danger; the director and the guiding crew are embroiled in a controversy of gargantuan proportions.

To add to the masala, a competing soap opera on another channel — The Big Bash— Down Under threatens to steal some of the limelight , the glory and the action stars.

The twists and turns in this narrative are hairy indeed!

7> The Season Finale

What will the season finale bring? Who will come out victors? Who will have cake on their face?

Is the IPL sustainable? What are the lessons that can be learnt? Can the Big Bash and the IPL exist complementarily?

Is it only about Big Bucks? Is there a moral lesson for fans somewhere? For anyone, anywhere?

Will the pioneering spirit trump? Or will conservatism strangle the grandest show to hit the stage of Indian sport?

We all await the epilogue to this extravaganza with bated breath. Will we be disappointed or sated?

That’s what soap is about. Don’t  you agree?

I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.Herbert Bayard Swope

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IPL makes no news, can mum make a difference to CA fortunes?

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The news channels have been handed a respite  by the 30 day extension (or notice) to the Kochi franchisee.

Kings XI Punjab will join the Rajasthan Royals by filing a petition against the BCCI for terminating their franchise.

Rajasthan Royals are embroiled in a court hearing that will happen after the Diwali vacation.

Gavaskar has slammed the press for subjecting him to a “trial by media” and said “In the eyes of the Indian media you are guilty till you are proved innocent”.

One man happy with the IPL —specifically Chennai Super Kings— is former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming. The New Zealander has renewed his contract with the current IPL champions for another three years. Fleming guided CSK to the IPL trophy and the Champions League title.

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Australian cricket: The Big Bash à la IPL raises more than a few questions

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The Big Bash League

If the BCCI is not quite open to having private equity from foreign investors in the IPL,that is not quite the case with the Australian version (The Big Bash League) of the IPL scheduled to begin in the 2011-12 Australian summer season.

New South Wales and Victoria have allegedly already sold shares in their state associations to two giant Indian corporations.

Brisbane-based Adani Group and Jay Mehta, co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, have been named as Indian corporates with possible interest in the Big Bash league.

Gautam Adani recently bid unsuccessfully for an IPL team.

In breaking news, Cricket Australia (CA) has approved minority private ownership paving the way for Indian investors.

The Australian Cricketer’s Association had backed the entry of private overseas investment saying that it will not only bring in much need investment into the sport but also raise the profile of the sport Down Under.

Each Big Bash franchise is valued initially at $20 million each which is expected to rise to $80 million over the next few seasons.

The Australian cricket calendar is being punctured to accommodate the new entity; tests will be foregone for the period of the tournament to ensure the availability of top Australian cricketers for the duration of the tournament.

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Sunil Gavaskar: A Contradiction In Terms, From Calypso King To IPL Flop

Gavaskar , The Original Little Master

I have always been a huge fan of Sunil “Sunny” Gavaskar, the cricketer — the original Little Master.

When the rest of the world cowered under the barrage of bouncers and intimidating pace bowling unleashed by the marauding, rampaging Windies side of the late 70’s , 80’s and early 90’s, one man stood firm amidst the ruins.

That man was Sunil Manohar Gavaskar; thirteen of his 34 hundreds were against the mighty West Indians.

Another eight were belted against the Australians.

Whenever India played a series against the West Indians, we knew that as long as Gavaskar occupied the crease we were safe.

When the ace batter succumbed, the Indian team surrendered weakly as well.

At a time when India were making the transition from being mostly a spin bowling side to a pace bowling attack (thanks to another all-time great, Kapil Dev), we depended on the batsmen to save Test matches.

Bowlers win matches, batsmen save them.

This was a time in Indian cricket when a draw was always a noteworthy achievement; Indian sides rarely had the bowling strength to bowl out a team twice.

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IPL: Kochi franchisee in ICU , issued a thirty day termination notice

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If the BCCI bigwigs were in a tearing, unholy hurry to terminate the Lalit Modi-associated franchisees — Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab — they are now dragging their feet and going by the book in their dealings with the Kochi consortium.

The IPL governing council met this morning , October 27, 2010 . After due deliberations they issued a thirty day termination notice to the alliance partners.

Shashank Manohar  — a lawyer by profession —  pronounced that the Kochi franchise’s case is quite different from the other two expelled franchisees. Since there were no new partners added to the shareholding structure , it is considered a ‘remedial breach’ of the agreement. The Kochi franchisee lives on for another thirty days.

"The Governing Council has invoked clause 12 (1) and given them a 30 days notice that in case they don’t remedy these disputes in the 30 days, the franchise would stand cancelled on the 31st day," he said.

The infractions by the other two franchisees have been termed ‘intermediary breaches’.

IPL: Sunny Gavaskar hits the headlines, Kochi decision on Wednesday

Sunny Gavaskar hits the deadlines once more; this time it is his links with the Kochi franchise that have drawn flak from all quarters.

The Indian batting legend , the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs and surpass Don Bradman’s 29 tons, is mulling over an offer from the Gaikwads, the Rendezvous group owners, to handle all matters cricketing.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise and there exists speculation about Gavaskar’s role in the bidding process as a possible conflict of interest ; the master batsman was then on the IPL governing council.

(The  fallout between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor was the result of allegations that Tharoor sought Modi’s interference in the bidding process to ensure that the Kochi group’s bid would be successful.)

Gavaskar is no longer a part of the IPL set-up; he quit the re-constituted governing council citing differences with the BCCI.

Was the conflict of interest a reason for the differences? If yes, why then was just the super accumulator penalised?

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