IPL to be cancelled?

I will be glued to the telly from June 5th for the World T20 championships.

Looks like it has become a bone of contention between politicians and cricket administrators.

Politicians fear limelight moving away from the general elections, If the IPL is staged as scheduled.

While Cricket administrators think if failure to stage IPL will snatch all the commercial and administrative powers BCCI has wrenched at international level will dissolved.

So I foresee the stalemate to continue and ultimately the IPL to be cancelled. It will be a loss to Indian Cricket Scene and also to the economy also.

I also fear Champions League will no more be a feasible event.

Keeping my finger crossed.

I think the politicians are well within their rights to be a bit edgy. Basically IPL will require security and some of it will be diverted from election duty for cricket matches. Now picture this.
A match is going on and somewhere a bomb goes off. Can you imagine the political fallout of such an event. The ruling party will be under attack from all sides and will lose the elections(in that state) for sure and when we are already expecting a close three way fight, a few seat loss can be disastrous.

And all this for what? To make BCCI earn some cash cos the league can't be moved around. I am sure sports and politics can go hand in hand as long as sports does not require this much of security. Fact is that IPL required huge amount of security to satisfy the foreign players to even come and we cannot offer the same at election time.

I hope Modi gets that.

(Btw if something, god forbid, happens during IPL, Modi will be routed out of cricket )

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Safin's Signature:

Have Fun, Take part in debates, Read jokes, Ogle at Celebs; Just follow the Rules!

“There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it.”

I would genuinely hope that IPL wont get cancelled, but if it does and the stated reason is inability to provide an adequate level of security, (i doubt this is true), then that must surely highlight to the politicians that India is going off the rails....

Free, non-violent, democratic elections are a basic right of the people........... If the ability to secure both electoral commissions and sporting events can't be guaranteed at the same time, then the people have the right to question where their taxes have been spent, because it obviously hasn't been going to providing effective Emergency Services, nor into the Defence Force.......

IMHO, IPL needs to be canceled and rescheduled keeping in mind the security of the players. Let's face it, India isn't safe anymore for anyone, even for the Indian players. They need very high security and during elections, I doubt if the political leaders would allow more policemen to save the cricketers than themselves. Inspite of this, if modi decides to have it anyway, and something goes wrong, then good bye to cricket in India just like how it happened in Pakistan.

I agree that this would be a huge loss for BCCI, but hey, we can't put lives at risk and also future cricket in India.

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Agnel's Signature:

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds;
and the pessimist fears this is true

^ I agree! Maybe they should have thought/think about the offer ECB made to schedule the IPL in England. That would obviously take away a large chunk of profits from BCCI, but it would be safe atleast.

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Ninja's Signature:

Umm I don't really agree
You have to appreciate that the region is rather turbulent and with people ready to kill themselves for the sake of Jihad, you cannot guarantee security. Elections in India are never easy and one needs to appreciate that its one of the only countries with that big a population that has an impeccable record(mostly) of free, fair elections. Its not like US, educated people and not many at that who vote. We have good roaming, all kids of naxal moments and among all that we hold elections, the credibility of which is rather rock solid nationally.

Sich an exercise does require rule of law. It required top level of security and it needs to be given top priority. Cricket matches will come and go next year also, but a flawed election, especially one that has been disrupted due to a security scare, which alters the results of an election can be disastrous in the long term.

IPL bosses are looking short term, looking at the IPL season 2 alone, but if things go wrong, the whole concept of IPL will be under threat.



Anyway as i post this, news is breaking that three states, Punjab, HP and West Bengal have guaranteed security. Thats Kings XI and KKR. Lets see what else happens.

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Safin's Signature:

Have Fun, Take part in debates, Read jokes, Ogle at Celebs; Just follow the Rules!

“There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it.”

Chidambaram has spoken like a true politician

In the battle between the Indian Premier League and Elections 2009, Home Mnister P Chidambaram has made clear that elections are a clear priority over the cricket series.

Speaking with Karan Thapar on Devil’s Advocate, Chidambaram said he would leave the decision of rescheduling the league to the organisers and that the states cannot compromise on forces promised for elections.

IPL can go for a toss, Govt won't let it hit elections

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Agnel's Signature:

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds;
and the pessimist fears this is true