Has IPL destroyed the Gentleman's Game

By now we know the 3 tainted players. These three players(Sreesanth, Chandila, Chavan) have brought back the ghosts of 2000 match fixing back to the limelight. But the fact is it was inevitable. In today’s world where money is equivalent to a man’s status in society, a person will do anything to earn that extra few dollars. Sadly, he is ready to follow the devil’s path. But who is to blame for this atrocious crime? Certainly a player is not imbibed with these filthy traits from his younger days.But, the surroundings around him do leave a mark. In this regard, IPL has played a pivotal role in making the players go astray form their path and take shortcut route

1) Cricketers are no longer interested to don India Team Jersey.

IPL, started in 2008, was regarded as a platform for youngsters to showcase themselves to the world. The TV coverage had given added impetus to go out on the field and make the world notice them. Suddenly, from playing in front of empty stands in Ranji Trophy, they were right in front of a packed stadium . But as a coin has two sides, IPL showed its darker side. The dollars showered on the players took them off their feet.The domestic players who hardly earned enough to fancy gizmos and gadgets , now earn fees comparable to any international cricketer. A fringe player will earn a handsome money 25000-30000$ by just warming the bench in the dugout.That is itself a huge sum when converted to INR for an average earning Indian. Gone are the days when we hear budding cricketers sacrificing everything to get to buy a proper cricket kit to fulfill his dream of playing team India. The cricketers will feign injuries throughout the year to avoid playing in the heat. But when it comes to IPL season, they are very enthusiastic to show their mettle on the field, injured or not. Sadly, that trait is seldom seen in Indian jersy. The fringe cricketers know even after playing 5 years of domestic cricket , the money they earn will be nowhere near 3 seasons of IPL. So why will the players strive for that extra mile to play for India when they get international recognition through IPL. Yes IPL gave us Indian stars like Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Valthaty, etc, but it has also given the ugly face of cricket – spot fixing. It is not the first time we are hearing it in IPL. Last year, a sting operation by a tv channel unraveled match fixing which included some domestic players. But what pains more is that the established Indian international players are putting club before country. Throughout the year, at least one player or the other is injured and we get thrashed mercilessly in Australia and England. But in IPL , they play through the tournament carrying injury. Its a pity to see the players don’t have patriotism to play for India.

2) Non Cricket Personalities having their share in IPL

If there is one aspect which has hampered cricket but is kept inside the carpet it is – the non cricket fraternity. Be it the franchises or administrators , they use the “IPL” brand to easily get revenue in their own business ventures. How they use the ‘ brand’, it is a complexity.They will throw late night parties every now and then and make the tournament look like fashion show. . We have heard stories of ignorant fringe players making unwanted approaches and ogle them in night parties which shows the players in a bad taste. The BCCI is doing nothing wrong in promoting the game throughout India but we are unaware of under table dealings and corruptions within the board. The Lait Modi saga is testimony to the above fact. Even the South African board fell trap to this ugly web when IPL took place there in 2009. These businessmen will earn their profits at the end of the season without giving any profit to the output of cricket.

3) BCCI wants to downgrade every other Cricket Board

The fact that India does not follow DRS system shows BCCI’s prowess. The ICC is helpless and they oblige by whatever BCCI says. The icing on the cake was starting the cash rich IPL. With the money value of this tournament comparabale to NBL and EPL, the other borads were in total awe of the success. Even the international players would prefer IPL rather than their own country. Following the “big daddy” each country started its franchise based T20 tournament. The IPL was primarily started to wipe out the rebel ICL which had attracted a lot of cricketers. The fact is that BCCI acts as the pioneer in branding cricket even if that means degrading the other boards. The world is totally against the dictatorship of BCCI and nodding at anything it says. The honesty and integrity of a person has gone for a toss