Published: Apr 17, 2016, 03:47 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 17, 2016, 03:47 PM (IST)
New Delhi: The politician-cricket official dual role has hit the reputation of the game and the IPL and has also been the cause of many of the conflict of interest controversies thereby adversely impacting politicians as well as cricket’s overall health, says Delhi-based sports attorney Desh Gaurav Sekhri in his new book. “Conflict of interest has become the single most relevant term that is synonymous with Indian cricket in 2016. The conflict of interest phenomenon has shaped how ethics in cricket are to be determined,” he writes in “Not Out! The Incredible Story Of The Indian Premier League”, published by Penguin Books. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Kings XI Punjab vs Rising Pune Supergiants, IPL 2016, Match 10 at Mohali
The book explores the intricacies of the business model of the IPL, pinpointing what it got right and where it went wrong. It also looks closely at the spot-fixing scandal, the conflict of interest controversy, the issues that led to suspension of two champion teams and the complicated interplay between the BCCI and the IPL. According to the author, nothing has caused more grief to the BCCI-IPL than the conflict of interest controversy. He says the most likely to be damaging to the reputation of the BCCI-IPL in the future is the duality of roles performed by public officials who hold positions in the BCCI.
“The Justice (R M) Lodha Committee’s recommendation was to exclude ministers and government officials from the board’s administration. The current IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, is a politician. The secretary of the BCCI, Anurag Thakur, is a politician. A member of the present IPL governing council, Jyotiraditya Scindia, is a politician. Former BCCI president and the current nominee for the ICC, if (Shashank) Manohar is unavailable, Sharad Pawar, is a politician. Many of the state associations’ presidents or board members are politicians,” Sekhri writes. Indian Premier League (IPL): Book launched on N Srinivasan and Lalit Modi
“But the politician-cricket official dual role has caused concern to the judiciary, to the public at large, and to the reputation of cricket and the IPL. It has also been the cause of many of the conflict of interest controversies, adversely impacting the politicians as well as cricket’s overall health,” he goes on to say. For the IPL, the conflict of interest controversy took centre stage during the spot-fixing scandal, but the first great fiasco in the IPL happened much earlier than that, the book says “The franchise expansion auction of the IPL was both its biggest success and, soon after, its biggest failure. I have already detailed the Kochi franchise’s story and its eventual collapse. The Kochi franchise was a primary example of conflict of interest, and an extremely warped set of events. IPL: Former CSA chief Mtutuzeli Nyoka to write book on scandal in 2009
There was a lot more to it than just the sweat-equity component,” the author writes. He says the challenges to the IPL are self-imposed and all of that can be revised, and none of it actually takes away from the future success of the event. “There are many things the IPL did correctly, right from the start. It had and in many respects still has the blueprint for creating an extremely successful sports event in India. They say imitation is the best possible flattery, and the IPL has been mimicked in India in every shape, size, form and sport. There is virtually no sport in India today that hasn’t had a ‘league’ model that imitates the IPL almost to the core,” the book says.
The recipe for the IPL’s success, according to Sekhri, was intuitive and intrinsic. “It was destined to do well and the recipe was ingenious at the time. In a seller’s market, the IPL was the perfect product to pitch and captivate. Perhaps it did everything in too much of a hurry and with not enough diligence, and then the trouble began. The trouble though is only as much as the BCCI lets it be.”
He feels the coming year or two will be extremely difficult for the IPL. “On-field, it has to maintain consistency despite the off-field turbulence it is facing due to the conflict between the sponsorship requirements of eight teams, and the inability to rustle up eight able teams for the two upcoming seasons. The board will need to focus on its flagship property while at the same time work tirelessly to alter the public’s perception, pre-empt the court and the Justice Lodha Committee, and modernize the way cricket is administered in today’s day and age. For the IPL, the board must ensure that it remains scandal free and retains control over the various elements that threaten to disrupt it,” he writes.
“The next few years will tell us if the first-in-time IPL turns it around and builds upon a golden opportunity. The IPL has never believed in half measures – now would not be a good time to reverse that trend,” he argues.
