The beleaguered IPL was staunchly defended by Vijay Mallya in front of the prying TV channel audience. It was seen to be believed for a man with passion for defending sports to remain in the realm of private sponsorship. To his credit goes sponsorship of Formula one in the force Force India, Rearing and Racing Horses & Sponsoring RCB cricket team in the IPL. The range of questions from Times NOW, CNN IBN & NDTV literally required an acumen of the business magnate to come up triumphs.
The way Arnab grilled him along with other distinguished panelist was seen to be believed. Mallya did not duck any bouncers or beamers thrown at him, but let go one question unanswered regarding Modi to step aside till investigations into the murky deals are complete.Coming to question of Nationalisation of cricket by Raja, the idea was demolished beyond recognition by panelist. The main reason behind it was IPL and cricket has achieved a cult status in India due to private sponsorship. Of course govt. support in the form leasing the stadium has been a big booster for BCCI.
The big question of transparency was once again raised in the forum.Kochi franchisee bagging the IPL team under open bid came under scrutiny for which Shashi Tharoor was sacrificed without an iota of doubt for the proxy dealing. The needle of doubt emerged because of his consorts involvement, and later her giving up the free equity came an ounce too late in the day. If she had given up the sweat equity on the day one the controversy arose it would have probably saved Shashi Tharoors job in the external affairs ministry. Now it would be a long long march for him to regain his lost sheen in central politics, in my view he can succeed in his home state to wrest power from the opposition. His charm would definitely elicit local support. Maybe his presence and involvement would enhance tourism in the state. He can use his international credentials for dwindling tourism industry in the state.
Mallya has candidly confessed that Modi’s tax problems is for him to answer and handle. This definitely gives a spin off to the controversy of amassing a huge wealth base through commissions. No wonder he is termed as the IPL Commissioner Lol. I think the designation should be removed from IPL, which obviously jutifies commission Lol. The entire IPL committee is now divided over the sacking of Modi. The franchisees would like Modi to continue due to his persona but financial irregularties is a serious allegation. He acted as a cheer leader for IPL admin to take off, and sacking him at this stage would take the sheen of the IPL. If at he is to be replaced he has to be substituted by a bigger persona like Sunny.
One should not forget the role of ICL to promote T20 in India they were the pioneers and in the bargain they must have suffered a huge loss too. If one considers Packer as the rebel who was rewarded to give up his right to run Packer series with channel 9 rights for broadcasting. ZEE Tv too should have been considered for such a largess. I hope they are considered at least after a gap for their pioneering effort.
Another angle is that of betting being most prominent in informal circle. Why not have a transparent betting matrix and throw it open to all pan card holders online, like share trading. This can be linked to the bank accounts directly with govt. deducting tax of 5% on betting amount and 5% on the winning amount. In India lottery, matka, horse racing, etc are all official betting circuits, why IPL which is meant for entertainment should not be thrown open for betting. Why should the cops or CBI or investigating agencies time be wasted in such frivilous investigation if betting is legalized.
I am sure cricket as mega brand in India is here to stay. The King of good times will be the messiah in the hour of crisis for cricket. I only hope sanity returns to the gentlemen game in administering it too. Let Cong and BJP forget the brownie points they would gain and work together to retain the mega brand in all its shining armor. It is the only true international brand from Incredible India. Hail Vijay Mallya.
Disclaimer : a personal musing towards professionalising BCCI and Cricket admin. in India