IPL 2009

Finally after lot of tussle between BCCI and Govt. of India, the schedule for IPL 2009 has been announced. The funny part of the outcome is that, Indian Premier League this time will be held in the land of South Africa. No doubt there is no sportsman spirit exists these day in the game of cricket. All the team play for money. And the regulatory board too became money minded. The commercialization of the cricket game started around 10 years before when Jagmohan Dalmia was the president of BCCI. He realized the potential of the game in india, and as the electronic media was booming at that time, he exploited the situation and made the BCCI into million dollar engine. It was the first cricket board which had asset more than million dollar. And the legacy was carried successfully by the rest of the BCCI presidents. The Indian cricket team emerged as highest money making team as the audience for the team was huge. India has population more than a billion and the scope for earning is more. The influence of Indian team over rest of the world was clear in the last world cup when Indian team was out, and then the sponsors were not ready to fund for rest of the series.
This time there was height of stubbornness of the BCCI regarding the decision to continue the game in South Africa. In my view, no game spirit has more value than national interest. As the Parliament Elections were announced in the same period, and it is a herculean task for any government to provide security for this kind of event. There is a chance of taking advantage of the situation of anti terror elements to spoil the election as well as game. When more than half a billion people has to cast their vote, conducting a free and fare election is itself a big job and providing security for the game is not possible at any cost. When the home ministry it self is not sure to provide security for the whole event, considering the gravity of situation, the event could have been postponed and have been scheduled in India it self. But the kind of approach BCCI took, is not acceptable on any condition. Any sports academy should respect to national interest before thinking about profit or loss while orginizing any such events.