Monday, February 01, 2010

More Than $750,000

By Raghu Krishnan, *An IPL auction is fanned into a diplomatic issue* - The Economic Times - India

Sunday, January 24, 2010

On the night of Tuesday, January 19, almost every Indian TV news-channel spun a conspiracy theory about the fact that there were no takers for Pakistani cricketers among the IPL [Indian Premier League] franchisees in the auction held earlier in the day.

It could not, the TV news-channel anchors solemnly opined, be a coincidence that none of the IPL franchisees had bid for the Pakistani cricketers. Pakistan, the anchors noted, was the reigning T20 world champ and the non-participation in the IPL of that country's cricketers for the second consecutive year would have a detrimental effect on Indo-Pak relations.

The TV anchors apparently failed to realise that the answer to the question of why no Pak cricketer had been bought lay in the comment that the channels had themselves made that the 2010 season would be the second consecutive year in which cricketers from Pakistan would not be participating in the IPL. With only 11 players being bought out of 67 and with each franchisee not having more than one or two slots to fill, it would have not made much sense to invest in a player about whose participation there was considerable doubt, going by the previous year's experience.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi stated in the post-auction press conference that Pakistani cricketers had not participated in the 2009 tournament because their cricketing board had advised not them not to play in India in the wake of 26/11. After such an experience, the IPL franchisees would themselves have not been too keen on even the most gifted Pakistani cricketer.

Instead of hinting at conspiracies and insinuating that the Government of India (GoI) had informally told the franchisees through the BCCI not to bid for cricketers from Pakistan, the anchors could have put themselves in the buyers' shoes. Where was the need for any GoI advice when the TV news-channels were quoting not just intelligence agencies but even visiting US defence secretary Robert Gates as stating that a Pakistan-based nexus of Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the LeT was planning another 26/11.

Unless, of course, it is anybody's contention that Lalit Modi got Gates to say all this!

Instead, the TV news-channels outdid each other in spinning out inside stories and conspiracy theories of GoI intervention being behind the absence of bids for Pakistani cricketers. And in a subcontinent where people are only too willing to take offence, it did not take too long for those in Pakistan to react to this `snub'. A Pakistani parliamentary delegation cancelled its visit to India. Pakistan's ministers stated that what happened during the auction would affect bilateral ties.

India's sports minister M S Gill stated that the GoI had nothing to do with this and that the franchisees were taking their own bidding decisions, based on their specific cricketing and corporate strategies. However, the hype goes on and some TV channels have even talked about the adverse impact on Indo-Pak relations!

To equate the IPL with a full-fledged Indo-Pak CBM (confidence building measure) is patently absurd. A performance in India by Pakistan's leading Sufi singers could do more to build good will than an individual investment of even $750,000 by an Indian franchisee on Shahid Afridi for IPL3, 4 or 5!

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Monday, February 01, 2010

More Than $750,000
By Raghu Krishnan, *An IPL auction is fanned into a diplomatic issue* - The Economic Times - India

Sunday, January 24, 2010

On the night of Tuesday, January 19, almost every Indian TV news-channel spun a conspiracy theory about the fact that there were no takers for Pakistani cricketers among the IPL [Indian Premier League] franchisees in the auction held earlier in the day.

It could not, the TV news-channel anchors solemnly opined, be a coincidence that none of the IPL franchisees had bid for the Pakistani cricketers. Pakistan, the anchors noted, was the reigning T20 world champ and the non-participation in the IPL of that country's cricketers for the second consecutive year would have a detrimental effect on Indo-Pak relations.

The TV anchors apparently failed to realise that the answer to the question of why no Pak cricketer had been bought lay in the comment that the channels had themselves made that the 2010 season would be the second consecutive year in which cricketers from Pakistan would not be participating in the IPL. With only 11 players being bought out of 67 and with each franchisee not having more than one or two slots to fill, it would have not made much sense to invest in a player about whose participation there was considerable doubt, going by the previous year's experience.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi stated in the post-auction press conference that Pakistani cricketers had not participated in the 2009 tournament because their cricketing board had advised not them not to play in India in the wake of 26/11. After such an experience, the IPL franchisees would themselves have not been too keen on even the most gifted Pakistani cricketer.

Instead of hinting at conspiracies and insinuating that the Government of India (GoI) had informally told the franchisees through the BCCI not to bid for cricketers from Pakistan, the anchors could have put themselves in the buyers' shoes. Where was the need for any GoI advice when the TV news-channels were quoting not just intelligence agencies but even visiting US defence secretary Robert Gates as stating that a Pakistan-based nexus of Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the LeT was planning another 26/11.

Unless, of course, it is anybody's contention that Lalit Modi got Gates to say all this!

Instead, the TV news-channels outdid each other in spinning out inside stories and conspiracy theories of GoI intervention being behind the absence of bids for Pakistani cricketers. And in a subcontinent where people are only too willing to take offence, it did not take too long for those in Pakistan to react to this `snub'. A Pakistani parliamentary delegation cancelled its visit to India. Pakistan's ministers stated that what happened during the auction would affect bilateral ties.

India's sports minister M S Gill stated that the GoI had nothing to do with this and that the franchisees were taking their own bidding decisions, based on their specific cricketing and corporate strategies. However, the hype goes on and some TV channels have even talked about the adverse impact on Indo-Pak relations!

To equate the IPL with a full-fledged Indo-Pak CBM (confidence building measure) is patently absurd. A performance in India by Pakistan's leading Sufi singers could do more to build good will than an individual investment of even $750,000 by an Indian franchisee on Shahid Afridi for IPL3, 4 or 5!

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