IPL, BCCI, Entertainment, Controversies and Cricket
Mr. Ajay Maken (Minister of State for Sports)
has definitely brought up some truly vital points. Let us have a look at some
of the things he’s suggesting (You may also read the Hindu article
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/article3427055.ece ):
- BCCI
should de-link itself from the IPL management board that should ideally
consist of deserving people who have served the game of cricket and have
been its true torch bearers. They are apparently more qualified to run the
show. Moreover, it will also take care of the issue relating to the
conflict of interest.
- Politicians
should not hold prominent positions in sports federations.
- BCCI and IPL should be brought under RTI (Right to Information) Act in order to bring in more transparency.
In my opinion, all the above mentioned points
are very significant and should be immediately paid attention to. IPL has been
in the news for the wrongs reasons recently and is currently being debated on
all the major national news networks for reasons other than Cricket. It's high
time everyone introspected and stood for the integrity and purity of the game
of cricket.
I would not like to over-react by saying that
IPL should be banned; however, it’ll only be fare to take a stock and analyze
where this entire thing is heading. Is it entertainment in the form of the game
of cricket as we would like to visualize it? Or has it taken a different route
where Cricket is being used to promote Vanity fairs, circulation of black money
and satisfying egos of bigwigs involved.
I personally get really alarmed just to think
about where we are heading in terms of our country’s culture we have been so
proud of. Haven’t we kept morality at the back seat and jumped into a world of
conformity? A recent ‘Times of India’ article by Mukul Kesavan has dealt with
it very poignantly. I post the link here and request you to spare some moment
reading it.
Having said that, I must declare that I have
enjoyed IPL T20 games for the kind of thrill, excitement and punch it has brought
to the game of cricket and would like it to continue entertaining us. Yet,
there’s an air about it which is disturbing and dilutes the excitement at the
same time. And I think it is a collective responsibility of everyone from the
authorities, players to all the cricket lovers to contribute to make it better
so that it continues to awe us and become exemplary for other such sport
leagues across the world. To top it all, a transparent regulation mechanism is
the need of the hour.
I sincerely hope that Mr. Maken is not made to
succumb under pressure in order to stop doing what he’s trying to do. We have
recently seen an example in the case of our ex- railway minister. I also hope
that the pending The National Sports Development Bill, 2012 bill is tabled and
passed at the earliest.
What do you think? I would love to read your
views too and hence, would appreciate if you leave some thoughts here in the
comments section.
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