BANGALORE: The telecast rights problem between Zee-TV and the BCCI saw the former launch its own cricket league, the Indian Cricket League. But the worldwide recession forced Zee boss Subhash Chandra to wind up the league soon. Just as that was being done, the BCCI established the Indian Premier League or the IPL Twenty20 cricket bash with all the attendant entertainment avenues in place on and off the field.Zee had brought in the Zebra girls as the cheer leaders during 1998-99 when they quit cricket coverage following the problem with the BCCI and signed a memorandum with the AIFF for coverage of Indian football. The BCCI took this forward and cheer girls have became a part of the games in various avatars despite public uproar at many centres. Orchestrated cheering, music, presence of film and business personalities, match-fixing, spot-fixing, sting operations, charges of corruption, money laundering, fracas, molestation, drugs, ownership problems, favouritism and nepotism, the IPL has embraced everything in its wake.The abbreviation can be interpreted in several ways to establish what the original IPL expansion has come to be. Sabir Ali (JD-U) has said in Parliament that IPL is nothing but Indian Paisa Looto league. And surely not without a reason. With one problem or the other hitting the tournament since it got going first in 2008, the IPL can be described as the Indian Problem League.Money is the main motivator for everyone. Players, officials, franchisees, umpires, scorers, PR agencies, organising state associations, Media personnel of the BCCI, column writers, ghost writers, commentators, bookies and bettors are all into it only because they can make some quick and big money in a little more than a month. It is almost like a mini-summer horse racing season in Bangalore.The IPL, most importantly, is also the Indian Pension League. For it has served to provide ‘assumingly’ much-needed money to a host of retired and retiring players. Announcing that a part of the booty will also be distributed to 150 former Test and first-class cricketers who have retired from the game, the BCCI has officially converted the IPL into the Indian Pension League. Even those who played or are playing are retired cricketers. Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Anil Kumble, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, to name a few, are beneficiaries.For scribes covering it and returning home well after midnight without attending their controversial parties, it is nothing more than the Indian Punishment League. Thank God, the fifth edition games in Bangalore has come to an end today.The fans have wholeheartedly supported the Bangalore team, Royal Challengers. But the Vijay Mallya owned side has let the fans down every year. In 2008, they ended up being at the bottom of the table. In the 2009 finals, the team lost to Chennai after a spineless display. In 2010, they lost in the semi-finals. Last year, they lost badly in the finals to Chennai with the crowd’s favourite sixer-belter being out for a duck. This year has been even worse. Needing just 133 to win against DC, they gave away their wickets to be knocked out of the tournament. If the trend continues, fans will indeed belong to the Indian Passe League.
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