The disaster called IPL....

The Indian Premier League has become a vulgar show of wealth, power, extravagance and hoopla surrounding a game which is otherwise considered to be a gentlemen’s sport. It has impacted a lot of attributes of the Indian society and Indian cricket in a very negative manner.

This has become a pompous show of wealth and nothing else which goes against the basic Indian philosophy and ethos of sacrifice and renunciation. Our spiritual leaders who led an austere life and believed in the principles of “Sanatan-Dharma” taught us to lead a simple life and share our wealth with the poor and needy. Donation, sacrifice and service were considered to be the virtues of a great human being. What we see today in IPL promotes absolutely the opposite. What used to happen in the after match parties was well evident in the page 3 coverage of such parties which ultimately had to be stopped. The cheerleaders are paid to spice up the tournament with their bodies, to strut their stuff for mainly male audiences in a country where every adult woman has suffered the predatory gaze (and worse) of Indian men.

What economic benefit has IPL brought for the poor and downtrodden of the country? The amount of electricity wasted in an IPL match could have lit up thousands of villages or run hundreds of pumps for days.

The mad rush of moolah has attracted e’one from politicians to filmstars, from cricketers to industrialists. No one sees the obvious conflict of interest in ministers and BCCI office bearers’ connections with the IPL franchisees. We see ministers without any sense of accountability, industrialist with misplaced priorities and opposition leaders with no sense of responsibility sitting along with film stars and other influential people in the IPL franchisee lounges and watching IPL matches.

Swami Vivekananda, MK Gandhi and now Anna Hazare have time and again exhorted our youth to stand-up and participate in nation building. But, what our youth is doing? – watching IPL matches in Restro-Bars!! What can be expected from such a young generation?

Any tom, dick or harry can hit sixes in the IPL matches played on the placid Indian tracks but what happens to the Indian team when it goes to foreign countries; 4-0 whitewash. How can players focus on improving their game in midst of all the glare, glamour and razzmatazz? Today also we don’t have the replacements for T’kar, VVS and Dravid in test cricket.  But how will we get it, if the players are only happy playing the IPL and chasing the money. Thus IPL in the long run will hurt the quality of cricketers in the country which will only result in a national ignominy whenever the team goes outside to play.