All in the name of national pride

Against the backdrop of the buzz around the 2010 Commonwealth Games being so crucial for India's prestige as a global power, Pradeep Magazine in the Hindustan Times writes that cricket is the worst culprit when it comes to exploiting nationalist sentiments.

When the going is good, the Indian board takes advantage of all the state benefits by projecting itself as an organisation which is not there for profitmaking but is doing a service to the nation. And when the going is bad, it closes ranks and tells the world that it is a private body and neither its accounts nor the unbridled use of power can be checked. The kind of money, which the Indian board is making today will be the envy of the best corporate. Yet most of those in its administrations would want us to believe that they are doing it for the love of the game.