What would remain of Indian Premier League tournament when you snip off “India” from it? Probably the domestic league would be converted into an ‘international’ premier league when it is hosted by some other nation other than India. It would be no different from other innumerable international cricket series held in Dubai or Dublin that we have to watch live on our television screens. But who wants another international tournament by the way and one that is organized with the money of BCCI? Well, at least, John Buchanan, the Coach of Kolkata Knights Riders does not. And so he can’t help hoping that Indian government would definitely work out some measures of compromise so that the upcoming twenty-20 tournament does not need to leave the Indian shore.

 

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“We're all still pretty hopeful it will be retained in India. Time will tell whether that's misguided or not, but the feeling here is that we will wait and see how the Indian government are going to react to this, and whether or not they will accept the IPL ultimatum (of moving the tournament abroad).” Buchanan was quoted saying to a premium cricket website.

The franchises and the IPL organizers’ interests lie in ensuring that the tournament goes ahead at all costs. And so for the IPL organizers, despite financial losses, shift in venue is still preferable. In the backdrop of threat perceptions, when shifting of venue has become a necessity in the absence of other alternatives, the twenty-20 tournament in its second edition would largely be a lackluster affair. The huge fanfare that accompanied the tournament in its inaugural session will be conspicuously absent, if it is held in the stadiums of any cities in England and South Africa.

If Buchanan’s hope comes true and India hosts the second edition of Indian Premier League right at home, it will prove that ‘Kahani mein twist” does happen in reality beyond the Bollywood blockbusters and K-tagged soap operas. At this juncture, IPL organizers are walking over two pronged sword---on the one hand there is strong public sentiment to care about and to bother about the reaction of ECB or CSA if they finally choose to roll back on their decision of taking IPL offshore. If BCCI finally makes it up with Indian government, it would not go down well with the English or South African cricket boards that would then look like mere pawns used in the power game between BCCI and Indian government.

The final venue and schedule would be announced on Monday; it is to be seen, which direction is taken by Lalit Modi and co. “It is such an important event for world cricket that it needs to go ahead, but having said that, if it goes elsewhere it will become a television event, rather than something more community based, like last year's tournament.”, warns international cricket’s most successful administrator.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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