Cricket Update: iSporter Akshay Iyer ponders on the impact of sacking two IPL franchise teams.
The BCCI has never shied away from taking decisions that rankle and lead to extreme reactions, and true to its style, the Indian cricket board made another such move on Sunday (October 10), when it decided to boot out Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab from the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The BCCI claims that it decided to take this extreme action against the two franchises as they violated ownership and shareholding patterns. One of the board’s accusations against the Royals is the franchise owners sold or transferred shares without permission of the IPL governing council. But, when Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra bought a stake in the Royals, it was public knowledge and something which the governing council could have countered if the members had an issue with the transaction!
In KXIP’s case, the BCCI alleges the ownership patterns changed twice in 2008. The question that begs to be asked is if the IPL governing council and the BCCI were aware of these changes, why didn’t they take any corrective measures at that point in time?
And, as much as BCCI president Shashank Manohar and his coterie would like this question to go away, it still hangs: Were the Royals and KXIP targetted only because it is believed that former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi had interests in the two expelled franchises?
In an apparent twist of fate, it was largely expected that the Kochi franchise would be given the axe at the emergency IPL Governing Council meeting. Instead, Kochi’s owners have been given another 10 days to incorporate the franchise and to get their documents and money in place; while two of the initial eight IPL franchises have been shown the door!
As could be expected, the owners of the Royals and KXIP were caught unawares by this shocking turn of events. While Royals co-owner Shilpa Shetty tweeted “This is 4 all those who want my reaction"Honestly too shocked to react, just disheartened..cause its more than just a team 4 us!”; Kings XI co-owner Preity Zinta also expressed her anguish on Twitter. Zinta tweeted: “Still absorbing the News! After working so hard in the IPL & putting my everything building this team dis is not what I expected! Shocked!”
The question that should now concern the BCCI is if any or both of these two franchises take legal recourse. If they do, the upcoming player auctions in end-November could be affected. Not to mention the obvious facts that the number of matches in IPL-4 would have to be reduced which will affect the other franchises’ revenue models and projections. The reduction of competing teams to eight in IPL-4 may also lead to re-negotiation of the broadcast deal with Sony, which will also impact the coffers of the BCCI.
Coming back to the two expelled franchises, how can the BCCI overlook the physical, monetary, mental and emotional investment made by the owners of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab? It is not easy to build a brand and fan following, and the owners of the Royals and Kings XI have put in the hard yards to create a sense of euphoria around their teams not only in Rajasthan and Punjab respectively, but also across India and the world. Who can forget the Royals’ Cinderella story in IPL-1?
The BCCI appears to have overlooked the fact that the IPL is as popular as it is because of the owners and the franchises, and they have the right to expect to be treated better by the Indian cricket board. The feeling among the owners can be best exemplified by an angry tweet of Royal Challengers Bangalore owner Vijay Mallya. In his tweet, Mallya asks: “I wonder if IPL franchisees r serious stakeholders whose investments n participation r respected or r they slaves who only come n play?”
There could be a distinct possibility that the BCCI is increasingly alienating itself from the franchises, and if that is indeed the case, this development wouldn’t bode well either for the IPL or for the Indian cricket board itself. This is also the second big controversy to crop up in the IPL in its three years of existence.
I feel the BCCI has taken too extreme a step in deciding to scrap the Royals and Kings XI franchises. Instead of taking this shocking decision, if the BCCI wanted to make a point to these two franchises, they could either have had their spending power for the auction reduced or could have started out with a two or three match handicap in IPL-4.
One can only hope that better sense prevails on the powers that be, and Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab are given back their rightful places in the IPL sooner than later.
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Akshay Iyer
said:
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... What I forgot to include in the article is that while it is important for the BCCI and the IPL Governing Council to clean up whatever mess exists in the lucrative league, booting out two of the initial eight franchises is not the right thing to do. The question of N Srinivasan being a BCCI official and an IPL franchise owner, of course, needs to be looked at by the Governing Council too. But,guess, the Supreme Court will have the final say on that matter!!!!--- Akshay |
Asif Khan
said:
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... It's really disappointing how the BCCI is run by a bunch of politicians and businessman who often put their personal rivalries and profits ahead of the game. True that the game has been highly successful under their management but if the corruption keep taking it over, it's not long before the game will suffer too. |
Akshay Iyer
said:
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... @Asif: I completely agree with you. In fact, almost all the national sports federations in India are run by politicians; and we all know how that has played out for the respective sportspersons!!! As fore the BCCI, it should use its money power abd clout to positively influence the game. |
Asif Khan
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... @Akshay, The BCCI deserves a lot of credit for how it has developed the game in many ways. What's really bad is the abuse of power and the control that certain individuals have on BCCI from time to time. Jagmohan Dalmiya, Lalit Modi, Sharad Pawar etc. ran the organization (or branches of it) as their personal fiefdom and have tried to get back at each other with a vengeance that if successful it has the potential to destroy the game as we know it. But then we do not have any capable body to overlook such organizations. |
Akshay Iyer
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... @Asif: I agree with you in that the BCCI has done a lot for the game ..... that's one of the main reason Cricket has been such a cult sport in India. But, as you have rightly said, it is certain individuals' thrist for power and greed which has seen the BCCI being viewed as an autocratic institution, more often than not. |
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