All you need to know about the IPL mess
Kadambari Murali Wade pieces together the power and political angles of the IPL jigsaw in Hindustan Times .
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Kadambari Murali Wade pieces together the power and political angles of the IPL jigsaw in Hindustan Times.
While the IPL is mired in off-field controversy, the brand itself has been tremendously successful. An editorial in the Indian Express asks the Indian government to deal with the mess the same way it handled the corporate fraud at Satyam - punish the offenders, but save the brand and its stakeholders.
Consider the interests of stakeholders other than the bosses of IPL. Consumers in India, and indeed abroad, are enjoying the cricket and the larger entertainment package being offered. Advertisers seem to find it worthwhile to pump in money where there is such a large audience. Broadcasters and franchise owners, and leave aside the murk for just a moment, must also see plenty of potential for profit to have invested so much money in the IPL. And the cricketers involved in actually dishing out the action are all better off (at least financially) from their participation in the league. Purists may worry about the fate of the game as they once knew it, but that is another debate.
With the Kochi-franchise controversy backfiring on Lalit Modi, Bachi Karkaria wonders in the Times of India whether the under-fire IPL chief is regretting his move to go after Shashi Tharoor.
The IPL is a nepotism scam as well. For now, only the Modi clan and cronies seem to have the juiciest plums, but who knows how many more family trees will tumble as the government, the BCCI and the media dig up the pitch. The biter has been bitten harder. Is Lalit Modi wishing that he had let sleeping Shashis lie – even through their teeth?
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo