What
a bizarre month it’s been if you’re an ardent follower of cricket!
Lalit
Modi’s off field activities have dominated the headlines even more than the
great on field action. The hours after Chennai
won the IPL trophy were dominated
not by news of Chennai partying and rejoicing or even the highlights of the
final but rather the suspension of Lalit Modi as the Chairman and Commissioner of
the Indian Premier League.
While
it might seem strange that the face of the IPL has gone from being a marketing
whizkid to the villain he is seen now, the actions of Lalit Modi are not
surprising. Allegations still standing, Modi has fallen a victim to his ego and
despite his abilities hasn't been able to manage his own greed.
‘Have You Ever Seen A 100 Crore
People Doing The Same Thing At The Same Time?’, that’s the ad doing the
rounds on Indian TV. The product being advertised is the biggest phenomenon to
ever come out of the Indian subcontinent and easily the biggest in the game of Cricket.The sporting spectacle known as the Indian
Premier League or the IPL for
short kicks off on the Tenth of April. This time the stakes are higher, the
number of players are more, the viewership is guaranteed to be much more than
the number we saw last year. What should however have the big men in the BCCI grinning from one ear to the next
is the amount of money that is expected to come into the IPL.As Lalit Modi said a few weeks ago “The IPL Is Recession Proof”. That’s
food for thought.
