The back and forth between the Indian government and the Indian Premier League (IPL) came to head on Sunday. The fledging IPL finally decided to cancel having the series in India. Now the IPL is looking to host the series in a last minute switch to either South Africa or the UK. The Indian government apparently wants the entire country to come to a standstill during elections. Yes, elections are important but what sort of message does this send to the world that the Indian government cannot handle two events at the same time: general elections and a 6 week cricket series.
Personally, I think it has more to do with money then security. Let’s be real, Bombay was attacked on Nov 26 and since then no major change in internal security in Bombay. I’m sure several well placed government officials saw how much money was made by the IPL last year and used the security card as way to get access to the IPL money train.
Lalit Modi the man behind the IPL was very diplomatic when speaking to the press and saying “no one was to blame” for the IPL being moved offshore. And, all team owners talked about how great it is that the IPL is going to continue. True, the IPL might continue in another country but that is an option which needed no go ahead from the Indian government, it was a last ditch effort.
The biggest loser so far seems to be Raj Kundra, who back in early February bought a 12 percent stake in the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals for USD 15.4 million.
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