IPL a breeding ground for greed

Santosh Desai, in his column for Times of India ponders over the actions of the Rajasthan trio, and whether their actions are solely to blame, or have they too been tainted by the nefarious forces that make up the IPL. In a league where celebrity owners trump stars, and money makes Kapil Dev dance to the tune of the tournament's organisers, it is hardly surprising that the advent of easy thrills, sex and money can lure people with otherwise good intentions, into a quandry. Desai argues that cheating is no longer such a black and white issue when you have such elements at play.

When scandals erupt, the guardians of the game seem more interested in protecting the viability of the tournament than in preserving the spirit of the sport. Those on the gravy train are quick to get into the time honoured 'few bad apples/rotten eggs' mode of defensiveness; in truth nobody really wants to know what goes on. The day after the scandal broke, the television coverage from the studio studiously ignored it and focused instead on 'guests' Sonakshi Sinha and Akshay Kumar while the dancing troupe jumped japangly in the background.