IPL bans hailed as chance to clean up image
AFP
AFP, NEW DELHI: Indias cricketing fraternity Wednesday welcomed the shock decision to ban two teams from the IPL as a long overdue opportunity for the game to clean up its scandal-sullied image.
While the suspension of the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the next two editions has thrown the Indian Premier League (IPL) into turmoil, former players, administrators and commentators said the move would strengthen the glitzy Twenty20 tournament in the long run.
Top officials in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) say they would respect the punishments announced by former chief justice Rajendra Mal Lodha on Tuesday which were seen as a damning verdict on the rule of the organisations former chief Narayanaswami Srinivasan.
Inderjit Singh Bindra, another former head of the BCCI, hailed what he called the historic and landmark punishments imposed after top officials were caught betting on IPL matches involving their own teams.
Beginning of the process of cleansing Indian cricket. I do hope that BCCI learns the right lessons, Bindra tweeted.
The veteran commentator Ayaz Memon said the verdicts should serve as a wake-up call to the BCCI which is by far the most powerful body in world cricket thanks to the huge TV contracts that the Indian team commands.
Essentially the Lodha report is a stinging indictment of BCCI which has skirted around issues of ownership rules, conflict of interest, match fixing, spot fixing and probity in office bearers ever since IPL began, he wrote in The Times of India.
The tournaments effective founder Lalit Modi is currently resisting demands to return home from exile in London to face questioning over money-laundering linked to a mega IPL broadcast deal.
Lodha also banned Srinivasans son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan from cricket-related activities for life after he was convicted of betting nearly $100,000 on matches.
A similar punishment was handed down to Raj Kundra, co-owner of the Rajasthan team and husband of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.
Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar said the IPL would definitely bounce back but said the board needed to smarten up its act.
Every organisation needs a review... the BCCI need to look at how they will be able to give the cricket followers in India the confidence that the game is in good hands, he told Indias NDTV network.
Gavaskar admitted that it will be tough to imagine an Indian Premier League edition without Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Asked about an IPL without Dhoni, Gavaskar said, Yes, that is going to be very tough. However, MSD is only 34 years old and in a few years will be bidding good bye to international cricket. In any case, it will be tough to imagine an IPL without Dhoni.
The bans dominated Indias newspapers which welcomed the severity of the punishment.
For far too long, BCCI ignored crickets inner voice, the Indian Express said in its main editorial. The court has served it a public and momentous rebuke.
