BCCI throws baby out with bathwater

In its haste to show who’s boss, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should not forget what it set out to do when it ousted Lalit Modi from the Indian Premier League (IPL). His exit was a chance to clean up the image of the league, not add to the murkiness.
On Sunday, BCCI president Shashank Manohar announced the axing of two IPL teams, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, due to breaches of agreement revealed in an internal probe. No one can have any quarrel with Manohar & Co wanting to eliminate the parties involved in ‘shady’ deals. But to bring down the sledgehammer on two teams without so much as a warning reeks of bullying. It isn’t a coincidence that both Kings XI and Royals have been considered to be close to Modi, who is clearly not a favourite with the current dispensation. Blunt announcements like Manohar’s only give fodder to the conspiracy theorists — that this is a vendetta, not a clean-up. IPL may nominally belong to the BCCI, but in a larger sense it is owned emotionally by its fans. The BCCI clearly did not think about the fans of Rajasthan Royals and Kings IX who have loyally worn the teams’ jerseys in the first three IPL events. Fans have lost the most in the tug-of-power of Indian cricket.
There is one more thing to worry about. With the league already down to eight teams, there may be a need to invite more investors in the future. If the behaviour of the board veers towards bullying rather than partnering, then attracting big investors, who also come with huge egos and strong opinions, will be very difficult. Most importantly, the BCCI’s bosses must show that the change in IPL’s leadership has been for the better. But has the dictatorial nature of decision-making that Modi was accused of really changed? IPL franchise owners are already crying foul, demanding to be made partners in change as opposed to ‘slaves’ who merely obey diktats.
Going forward, the BCCI must provide absolute transparency in the reasons for the two teams’ ouster, even if it means sharing details of its inquiry. The need of the hour is to prove that their intent is to make the league work, not destroy it. Modi is not their focus, Indian cricket is. The bottomline is this: whether one likes it or not, IPL is today India’s best-known sporting property. It is a property worth preserving.