Jhakas | Sanjay Jha
It's truly amazing stuff, but Ravi Shastri, the much over-blown TV commentator, termed Lalit Modi, IPL Commissioner as 'Moses', almost deifying him with heavenly associations. Whew! Everyone has since joined that chorus. If you have to see how money makes people sell their souls on 'm-Bay' (Modi Bay replaces the hitherto popular auction site eBay in my lexicon), go no farther than IPL. It is a blatantly bizarre sell-out, and scruples are damned without even a cursory consideration. You don't believe me? Then let me enlighten you for free this summer week-end.
1) Some 'respectable' columnists who usually get ants in their pants about everything from a KR or KKR multiple-captain theory to playing to the gallery on everything patriotic are remarkably silent, almost deafeningly quiet about commenting on MS Dhoni's and Harbhajan Singh's repugnant behaviour in not even turning up for receiving their Padama Shri from the President of India. It was a shameful act, and deserved universal condemnation, but NO ONE spoke a word. The BCCI expectedly uttered its usual nonsense, the players came up with some frivolous excuse, and Modi was too busy serenading Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty to worry about a public insult. Hang your heads in shame, guys, without exception. Continue reading below
2) Modi and BCCI President Shashank Manohar played astute politics to malign the Congress government, by twisting facts, misleading people and apportioning responsibility on others, when they were guilty of extreme high-handedness and shady back-door games themselves. But everyone played ball, because the moolah was the cool equalizer. This was not politicians messing with cricket administrators, but peculiarly enough, the other way round.
3) The IPL-II would have been an even bigger dismal flop (its TRP ratings on an average should have gone up and not down a year later as TV audiences have grown, and secondly, in a recession year, it is free TV, plenty of time, and no movies and eating out, right?) had it not been for the magnanimous support of the non-sports national news channels and daily newspapers. In fact, the coverage of IPL has reached grotesque proportions (news channels should ask for a stake in the IPL booty or loot), the most comical of which is the 'pre and post-match analysis' of the matches. Not a single prediction from verbose experts with grave faces has held, which manifests that IPL is finally a 'lottery and gamble' game only; there is not a single team which will ever be a front-runner. No favourites, no real game plan or strategy. When something works, it is treated as a eureka 'wow' factor; and everyone talks excitedly as if Osama bin Laden has been caught while walking down Fifth Avenue. Such trashy stuff is insufferable.
4) The in-your-face preposterous 7.5 minutes 'strategy break' is such a joke that even my little black mini-Daschund has been rolling on the floor since and disallowed the juicy bone from interrupting his incessant laughter. As I write, his tail has curled sky-high and I may present a bill to IPL if I have to take him to a vet. I am still awaiting comments from Mr Sunil Gavaskar and his famous tribe on the brilliant invention; but maybe they don't want to upset their bespectacled Moses, right??????
5) Check the players themselves, who are clearly going through the motions, as the commercial stakes make smart business sense. I don't blame them frankly, as they are the real gladiators. But soon injuries will happen, sackings will follow, excess cricket will leave them on a diminishing curve, and others will prepare for only the IPL season. Fortunately for India, our cricket has been on an ascension overall, but those who are crediting IPL for it are missing the woods for the trees. These are early days, but the inevitable is unavoidable.
Till such time, Mr Modi will have his well-groomed constituency of all stakeholders-players, sponsors, franchisees, media etc, each with their own axe to grind, eating out of his discarded crumbs with grateful appreciation. He expects Shastri and all the others of his ilk to follow just one of the real ten commandments of the original Moses: You shall have no other gods before me.
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