Indian Propaganda League

In a hard-hitting editorial, the Indian Express criticises the IPL for the "sheer hyperbolic wall-to-wall gushing" from its approved commentators, the "endless corporate tie-ins" and the "extraordinary, Beijing-like attempts to control media coverage and commentary".

The stars of the IPL, they’d have us believe, are the strutting team owners and the IPL’s “owner” himself, Lalit Modi. Certainly, Modi (or, as Rajasthan Royals star Shilpa Shetty recently called him, “the brainchild behind the IPL”) is signing autographs like he’s the main attraction. Well-trained cameras follow him adoringly across the stadium, as he waves magisterially to the people his minions have summoned to gawk at the wonders of his IPL. You would be forgiven for thinking that you were watching one of Kim Jong-Il’s giant propaganda games from North Korea; since we aren’t allowed to see the relatively thin crowds, the resemblance is even more marked. And, in all this, the cricketers that actually prop up the system are forgotten — it doesn’t give a damn for them.