Jhakas | Sanjay Jha
Enough has already been written and will be done on the furore over the outright rejection of Pakistan players in the IPL auction, so I will keep this piece somewhat short and come straight to some key points.
1) Either the Pakistan players were studiously ignored for the IPL auction (as is now being passionately speculated all over) in an orchestrated ploy hatched between the IPL management and the franchise owners or else the latter sent a pack of astute dunderheads to buy-out the players. Let me put it bluntly; who had heard of Kemar Roach, Kieron Pollard and Wayne Pernell, barring some sporadic heroism in a few, until the latest auction market opened up in Mumbai last week? How would you compare their few superlatives performances against some big names including the likes of hurricane-man Shahid Afridi and match winner Sohail Tanvir who in fact have established an extraordinary success rate over several years? Continue reading below
2) The blatant stupidity of the IPL-franchise owners tacit agreement became an easy detectable give-away in the simple fact that not a SINGLE bid was even offered for ANY Pakistan player by even ONE franchise owner. And they are the world champions in T20 World Cup much like MS Dhoni's men were in 2007 (forgotten that open bus-ride, everyone???) It was an unmistakable farce and you do not need Sherlock Holmes to do a thorough investigation to confirm that. Since there were famous ex-cricketers like Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble in that celebrity get-together somebody should ask them for their esteemed opinion on the subject. It will be interesting to hear their responses.
3) Mr Lalit Modi needs to be answered in appropriate semantics; "Yes, Sir, it was not a conspiracy, it was mere connivance. Happy, Sir?"
4) Yesterday, a reporter for a leading national daily has gone to extreme lengths castigating the Government of India, slyly insinuating that Lalit Modi & Co. are innocent scapegoats in this overblown affair (this same paper carries a breaking news on IPL-4 auctions, coincidence?????) Now that is a brazen attempt at diversionary tactics because all government spokespeople have clarified that they have already issued visas to Pakistan players or would do so if requested. Obviously, with the IPL being a private corporate tournament the complete security aspect or public behaviour is the look-out of the IPL management who need to underwrite their security. Maybe they are chickening out of that arguably tough responsibility. But in that case why needlessly execute a stupid pantomime by parading the Pakistan players when the conclusion was foregone?
5) It is time Lalit Modi stopped acting immature and stubbornly defiant by following standard procedure-----blame the media. In fact, I reiterate what I have said repeatedly, that the IPL eyeballs and valuations are significantly impacted by the excess coverage provided by general news channels to the event. Mr Modi should be eternally grateful to the Indian media instead of contemptuously dismissing it as trouble-mongers.
6) The Pakistani players have a reason to feel mortified by the public charade, but the Pakistan government establishment also needs to appreciate that the Indian media itself has taken up the issue and demanded explanatory statements from IPL. There is no need for Pakistan government authorities to now unnecessarily exacerbate this into a diplomatic face-off.
7) It is time the government of India sent an unequivocal uncompromising message to BCCI-IPL to ensure that on all matters pertaining to neighborly relations particularly with Pakistan of a sensitive nature, they clearly act with greater maturity and pragmatic wisdom instead of the infantile, amateurish way in which Modi has handled this. I thought Modi, deliberately positioned in a press conference between Ms Zinta and Ms Shetty, addressing this explosive issue created by his own evident inadequacies made for a grotesque picture, signifying that high-handedness had now gone into his head.
8) I also expected Mr Sharad Pawar, who is both part of BCCI-IPL and the Government of India, to have taken a bold stance and clarified matters given the political ramifications of the audacious snub to the Pakistani players.
9) Mr Modi now has himself buttressed the cause of other political outfits seeking parochial goals manifested in Shiv Sena's call to boycott Australian players in the IPL. He is solely responsible for allowing all sorts to jump into the fray for their own goals. I guess he will blame the Government again.
10) Lastly, maybe the big lesson for IPL is to cut out the boring, insipid, humourless auction on live television conducted by a professional expert in semi-comatose. It will be prudent to cut out the unwarranted hype and mindless coverage of a virtual inanity. Frankly, it is a colossal waste of national resources and precious time.
By a strange irony, Pakistan defeated India in the U-19 World Cup. Life is funnily an equaliser.
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