In search of the enduring IPL controversy

The first Indian Premier League had the Indian Cricket League to contend with, the second had Home Minister P Chidambaram, and the third was overshadowed by the controversies surrounding Lalit Modi. But what does the fourth season have to show for its efforts? There’s an RCA secretary Sanjay Dixit and Shane Warne war that’s threatening to become big but it’s doesn’t feel like anything major. After all, it’s a war that’s being fought over a petty issue – the right of the home side to have a pitch that favours their attack. Officially, that’s a big no-no. No one is supposed to do that but everyone and their grandfather knows that every side in international cricket still gets pitches that play to its strength. Is there anything wrong in it? Not at all. But try telling that to Dixit, who has even threatened to file a criminal complaint against the Australian, and alleged that the leg-spinner publicly abused him. Seriously, after living in India for so long, has he never been publicly abused before? Perhaps what did the trick was Modi stepping in to support Warne against his long-time rival. And so, the BCCI steps in. [caption id=“attachment_10954” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Shane Warne (left) has tried his best to get some controversy going. AFP”] [/caption] The Board is reportedly meeting the duo for their use of ‘unparliamentary’ language. Come again, what age are we in? Cricket used to be a gentleman’s game, now it’s just entertainment. Wasn’t that the founding principle of the IPL? So is that the controversy that we were looking for? Certainly not. Then there was the case of a Mumbai Indians cheerleader who was sent back home after she blogged about some ‘naughty’ IPL players. She screamed herself hoarse about how she felt like a prisoner while she was been taken to the airport but a day later, she didn’t even figure in the news. Controversy found? Nopes. At the start of the season, there was some genuine potential. Kolkata Knight Riders refused to pick Sourav Ganguly. The crowd abandoned Eden Gardens, they staged protests and KKR responded by winning. Then again, when Kochi Tuskers Kerala wanted to pick up Dada, it looked as if the former Indian skipper had a chance to get even. But the deal never materialised. By the time Pune Warriors finally picked him, we had lost interest and the team was almost out of the competition. A chance for Dada to get even? No. A chance for him to fail? Yes. A controversy? No. The Sri Lankans tried to help the BCCI too by recalling their players and the West Indies cricket board had a mock battle of sorts with Chris Gayle. But not even that helped. This year the IPL has been upstaged by real news – the Mamata Di’s, the Jaya Amma’s, the fall of the CPM, the 2G scam and more. So the search continues, for a controversy that will endure; that would fester, infect our consciousness and make things interesting again. The IPL seems trivial, too pure and seriously the BCCI’s marketing machinery needs to whip up some ‘real’ controversy to get the TRP ratings up again. And if they are still struggling, then help is just sitting across the English Channel.