Modi and the IPL - where to start?

It really is tricky to work it all out amongst the various allegations being made in the media. My summary would be:

- such huge success was always going to come under immense scrutiny so if Modi wasn't 100% above board with his financial dealings then he's not only greedy but stupid
- it was inevitable given the regular infighting and politics in Indian cricket that others would want part of the action
- it's not going to mean the immediate end to the IPL - there's too much money at stake and no other country has the interest and volume of people to challenge India in holding a similar tournament - but it could mean that it changes shape/approach
- if the tournament can be cut down as a result then some good will have come out of it - 6 weeks is a massive and unnecessarily long distraction from the most important cricket action of all - internationals!
- I wonder what Kapil Dev (who championed the ICL but was outmanoeuvred by Modi and the BCCI) makes of all this?
- If Modi is corrupt, Indian's have nothing to be ashamed of (many Indian observers appear embarrassed by what Modi is rumoured to have done) - corruption exists in all countries and everyone isn't to blame for individual weaknesses.

IPL boredom

I've lost track of the IPL and when the group stage finishes - when does the exciting knock out bit begin?

Perhaps it's because I don't have ITV4 and don't have a broadband connection that would allow me to watch YouTube coverage without annoying screen freezes (not to mention a lack of available time!), but I'm now totally bored of this part of the competition. Whenever anything amazing happens friends send me clips of great catches, misfields, great balls and great shots so hopefully I'm not missing much. If someone can let me know when the group stages are over, that would be greatly appreciated, and then I'll take a bit more of an interest....

That said, ITV seem to be doing pretty well out of it, and Modi deserves some praise for giving away the UK rights to the IPL cheaply to stimulate a bit of much needed interest outside India.

Champions League dates - what's the problem?

It's not easy to find out exact dates of future fixtures it seems - give it a try and you're a better man that I if you can work out the exact date that the first match of the 7 match ODI series between India and Australia is on October. Looking at the ICC's future tour programme spreadsheet, it looks like it doesn't start until the second week of October - i.e. w/c 11th October.


Now looking at the English county fixtures, it looks like they finish 18th September. If you want to worry about the Pakistan ODIs that England play - I suppose the ECB have to given existing sponsorship and TV deals - they finish on 22nd September. So the Champions League could quite easily start on Friday 24th September and finish Monday 11th October (apparently it needs 17 days as the dates suggested are 10th-26th September). That would allow India to play their series against Australia by the end of October, starting towards the end of w/c 11th.


Rather than reluctantly having to be unavailable, English counties shouldn't need to. India should be moving back their ODI series against Australia and stop suggesting that they have no flexibility over the 2nd October apparent start date.


The problem here is that the ICC is powerless. They should be able to instruct India to change their dates and avoid this problem altogether, but they...like everyone else...has to bow to India's money and work around them.

View on the IPL from South Africa

I don't think it can be doubted that the IPL was a success, but there are the odd words of warning in articles like this one from South Africa.

I also saw another report that talked about "the odd bit of cricket in amongst the adverts" which doesn't bode well. If Modi doesn't listen and has his dollar sign blinkers on, the IPL will crash in the same way as the world economy. Perhaps not next year, or the year after, but eventually. It will be interesting to see if he's in it for short-term gain or is building something for the long-term.

The impossible scheduling dream

Given that the best time to play cricket varies around the world, it's going to be very difficult to schedule a natural spot for the IPL. And the ICC don't want to be seen to concede to one request for the IPL, and then find they've set a precedent. So the England Players' Union are now worried about the potential problems.

Their best tactic would be to lobby the ECB to create the space for players to play IPL in May rather than Tests, and at the expense of County appearances, as was suggested on Cricket Burble some time ago. By not doing that, England have made the matter worse, with Modi now reportedly considering a 2nd tournament each year because he's now not worried about whether he clashes with international cricket or not.

Modi on hit list

It seems that Lalit Modi's life goes on generating headlines. This time his name was found on a list found when Indian police arrested a notorious hitman. What can you say? As a convicted criminal (he pleaded guilty to assault and kidnapping back in the 80s it says at the end of this article), he's not exactly squeeky clean himself, so it should probably come as no surprise that there are people in India who would like him dead.

It'll be interesting to see how the IPL goes out in South Africa. I suspect Modi will have thought about how he can get half empty stadiums to look full. Perhaps he will use "Airheads" - the company who create inflatable dolls for crowd scenes in films and recently doubled the number of spectators at a UK rugby match!

The IPL was never going to be played in England

I could 't agree with Ed Smith more. Today he argues that the only reason why Lalit Modi allowed England to think they had a chance of hosting the IPL was so that they had a decent bargaining position with South Africa. Why the ECB played along is anyone's guess. England in April was never a goer.

Modi questioned by Indian police

It seems that Lalit Modi might not have things all his own way in India and the notorious Indian politics that go on behind the scenes could be causing him some concern. He's been questioned by police of the misuse of Rs 22 lakh of BCCI funds, which I believe is not much more than £30,000 but I could be wrong in knowing how much a lakh is!

Modi seems to be able to play the politics game over there, so I'd be surprised if this damages him in any way.