Isn’t it funny how the controversies have started to erupt around the IPL right after the player auctions? First it was Cricket Australia complaining about the security in India. Then it was the ICC which can’t decide if it likes the IPL or hates it. There were a whole bunch of issues with Ponting and Symonds (probably because of the rather large difference in their pay packets). Then we found out the Bal Thackrey doesn’t like the IPL. The latest news is the the Left parties in the central government want the CBI to investigate the IPL for corruption charges.

Huh? The tournament hasn’t even started and there is talk of corruption charges in the Parliament? Aside from the obvious question that why is the Parliament discussing cricket tournaments in it’s precious time (instead of doing more useful things like solving poverty and such), one has to also ask why the IPL is gathering so much attention, of both the good and bad kinds? When the rival ICL started there were no such issues, and the tournament concluded without any major issues. So why so much attention on the IPL?

I think there might be two explanations. The first one, and the more obvious one, is that because of the rather large sums of money involved, everyone is getting nervous. The unheard of salaries that the cricketers are commanding is making everyone take a little look (with a little jealousy, we can add). Ishant Sharma, who just broke onto the international scene is commanding a salary of $950,000 or Rs 3.7 Crores. By some calculations, that is 1 lac for every ball he has bowled in ODIs. When statistics like these are presented, everyone starts to smell something fishy.

The second reason, a more subtle one, seems that everyone is starting to see a great publicity oppurtunity with the IPL. With the tremendous media coverage that it is getting, it seems exactly the right place to get your name out, one way or another. I mean, there is no other way the media would be interested in Bal Thackrey, but now that he’s talking about the IPL, the media can make the story “Old man jealous of new age rich kids”. From Thackrey’s perspective, this might also not be such a bad idea, since he now gets coverage in the national media. The surprising lack of any sort of reaction from BCCI, the teams or the players to this story makes me suspicious that everyone knows this game is being played, and are willing to let it happen because it’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Expect to see plenty more controversies as the tournament gets underway. I predict a couple of doping scandals, money laundering allegations, plenty of match-fixing and betting stories and maybe even GreenPeace activists protesting against the use of floodlights that is causing Global Warming.