At least, the Indian Premier League franchise owners came out to be more understanding than the common masses, who, left with the options of either flying to England or South Africa for watching the IPL or sticking to the living room for catching up with their favorite players at strike, sounds inconsolable at the decision of taking the Twenty-20 tournament offshore. At least the franchise owners seem to support the view that for the world’s number one democracy, general election is much more important than a pop-corn event like a twenty-20 tournament and that foolhardiness can not be supported in the name of national pride. And so the franchise owners - the who’s who of nation’s business and entertainment sector - decided to play it safe by welcoming the decision of taking the domestic tournament abroad.

Majority of the franchise owners expressed their relief that the tournament was saved from getting scrapped, even of at the cost of getting held abroad. Even if some of the franchises resented the decision, all of them were quite successful in suppressing their sentiment and all of them unanimously agreed that election is much more important. While King Khan gave a call for respecting the democratic process of the country, Preity Zinta extended her support to the Bollywood Badshah’s viewpoint. While Vijay Mallya, the owner of Bangalore Royal Challengers, maintains, “Fans across the country should not really complain. They will be able to watch on television.” Nita Ambani, the co owner of Mumbai franchise says she is happy that at least the upcoming cricket tournament was not cancelled.

While the cricket news media is abuzz with the speculations on financial losses, there are a few people like Manoj Badale, one of the owners of the Jaipur franchise, who thinks holding IPL abroad has a positive aspect and that relates to the prospect of tapping a new market. “It will have positives in terms of brand building”, the UK based businessman points out. Even then he admits that generally it is not good for the common public. “… fundamentally it will be disappointing for the huge numbers of Indian fans who will miss out - not to mention the loss of income for the Indian economy.” says Badale.

 

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However the decision might have been welcomed by most of the foreign contracted cricketers for obvious reason and their take on the issue can find parallel in the words of Paul Marsh, the Chief Executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association, who says, “Our members want the Indian Premier League to proceed provided the safety of the teams is not compromised. Given the current situation in India, the decision to move this year's event is a sensible one and will likely maximize player participation.”

The first edition of Indian Premier League tournament was an extra ordinary triumph on the part of Lalit Modi and his team and the huge response to it last year made it sure that an Indian sporting brand is on the making that has all the potentials to take the world by storm. This year the nation has to participate in another mega event - the event to celebrate their democratic rights. By shifting the venue to another nation, IPL too will face huge commercial losses.

But it is still the people of India who can ensure that this domestic cricket event, that acquired huge international fame in a span of just one year, is not faded out in its second year. Although one can not just help resenting the lack of governmental will for helping host the mega event right on Indian soil, still Indian audience can extend their support to IPL and take solace from the fact, as King Khan does, that “we will be back next year”.

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

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