The Media Mania & the Importance of having clean Image.

Have we ever noticed why Sports news are the back pages of the news paper; because in this corrupt, brutal & merciless world probably sports brings out the good feeling and reminds us that there are still things in this world which are clean and can make things better for the mortals here. Cricket does it again and rises to the front page from its usual back pages. Front pages, normally the abode of tragedies, scams, budgets, or lately, full-page ads. I am not sure it is the right place for sports - unless, of course, a boxer or shooter wins a medal at the Olympics. But now the IPL is being dragged out of there & this is not good for a league that has achieved so much but is still very young.

As a sporting event, the IPL has been excellent so far. It has provided a platform for young talent, for players in less-reported areas, and were a name on a scoreboard if the sports editor thought it worthy. The IPL has also allowed us another look at the ageing stars; cricketers we enjoyed watching and thought would now be available only on television reruns or DVDs.

The two areas the IPL needs to be most careful about are the quality of its franchise owners, and complete transparency, and the distance it can keep from match-fixing which is more in the news lately. Going ahead the IPL needs the same degree of commitment. You only need to look to the current fortunes of some teams in English football, or indeed to the trauma of the West Indies Cricket Board's Stanford association, to realize how easily things can go wrong.

Modi has the ability to create such kind of leagues even where there is no cricketing market; the ability to sense business and sharp instinct to carve league out of non-cricket playing nations and perfect execution for good ideas make Modi one of the finest decision-makers in fast-moving sports world. Within 3-4 years of his hard work and being at his innovative best; he has created the 6th biggest sporting event; which I think is a remarkable achievement. The best word I would use to describe him is "Gutsy"; it required Guts to take the IPL & convert it into a global sporting brand in a little over a year. It is his Guts that make him rub people the wrong way. He can be charming but he can be arrogant too, and he is not his best PR manager. Having said that IPL is 6th biggest sporting event in the world with brand value more than 4 $ Billion. But the best-known brands acquire respectability, and therefore longevity, only if they are perceived to be clean. And the one non-negotiable fact is that the law of the land must be followed in letter. And so, if the IPL retains ambitions of becoming one of sport's greatest global brands, it must go out of the way to be seen as above board.

I suspect that will be easier than allowing politicians to eye it. They are circling at the moment, eager to grab a bite. Politicians are defiantly trying on to improvise on their CV which has lots of scams, tragedies and lots of black spots on them. At times it seems that Media & Politicians are competing with each other on the account of who can win the battle of sensationalizing the whole IPL gamut.

Looks like India Inc. haven’t learned after what happened to Satyam barely 15 months ago. Another such event would dent its image for sure and this time its Cricket which the country loves so much in the center fold of the whole mess. The Satyam model, as the Indian Express so appropriately states, is probably the best way to go about it. When Satyam began going under for reasons of corporate impropriety, the government stepped in to protect Brand India because a hit to Satyam would have meant a hit to the image of India in the software industry. BCCI must promise similar action and implement it speedily. I am sure BCCI would have re-defined IPL post Modi era by now; and an ex-cricketer filling up Modi’s shoes in all likelihood the possibility. But my best bet would be if IPL is a brand that would require a person who has great Business acumen. A player would run an IPL as a cricket match and might not be in the best interest of the brand. Of course Cricketing decisions and Business decision making skills are different and I would not mind declaring Modi as best fit for the same. Hope they get some one who understands the business more than BCCI and is not part of politics of BCCI.

The Guns are out; the arsenal is ready and the official call to the war has been announced by both Modi & BCCI. The investigation into IPL is all the more important as People from all walks of Politics are involved in this and CYA process is on to make sure the ruling party can pressurize certain individuals within the government to set the score straight with their so-called allies. Its such an irony of life when MPs in parliament Demand IPL ban are ones who have criminal & corruption cases pending against them!!!!

As per Media sources they say that "In the coming months, well before the next season, a professional management structure will be in place," says a BCCI insider. It is likely to consist of a "genuine CEO" who will run the tournament but will need to revert to the Governing Council for policy decisions. The CEO will be assisted by department heads for marketing, finance, logistics and the like. For instance, the IPL could get a full-fledged spokesperson who will communicate the League's deals and rulings on its website and using media releases, rather than through Twitter feeds.

I strongly feel that this is an opportunity for the BCCI & Indian cricket to emerge stronger. The question is, what do they do with Lalit Modi? But do not undermine what he has achieved out for Indian Cricket and India as a nation. He defiantly has created opportunities for every one to prosper and grow; but some of us would like to argue that it is the capitalist way of thinking. But I guess that’s the way business works across the globe

Will Lalit Modi walk or will he be timed out? As IPL 2010 reaches its climax, the future of the IPL chairman is not in doubt. The only question leading up to Monday's Governing Council meeting - which Modi has said he will attend - is whether he will jump or be pushed. For BCCI its simple as that In a big cluster of dogs – A dogs view would not change for long time to come unless you are the leading dog.

Cricket Round Up !!!

Lots Glamour, Glitz and IPL is under way; the Baap of entertainment is half way mark and we all ready have lots of ups n downs on the points table and well yeah the emotions as well; All teams want to win it….lot of them do have re-enforcements in the from of NZ & Aussie Players who were tied up with Trans-Tasman series and some of them tied up the Shield games in back in OZ.

Half way mark and we have lot of things to talk about; those isn’t any major controversy this time; but for the first time 7 out of 8 IPL teams are fighting it equally to get the semi berth. The Punjab Horror show is by no means ending and adding to that is the controversy of Yuvraj and his tussle with owners and his form. Different teams have different state of minds at this point of time; RR after being crushed in 3 games won 4 in a row and made their presence felt; Delhi lost its way in between but are back on winning track. MI has started IPL-3 as Mr Ambani would have forecasted the profits before venturing into any business that is huge profits; they are looking good but want to see the team perform if the openers went out for cheap and one of the 3 strike bowlers didn’t fire up. DC is a good team much like Black caps who are no short of eligibility but loose the game at crucial juncture but still love watching the cohesiveness of the team.

KKR is the team which every one is looking forward to; they have re-branded themselves post Buchanan era and started the campaign with 2 wins and lost the way out in 3 and are in mix shades. The fear of failure is haunting them and they need to play fearless cricket. Lots of chatter bout Ganguly and his leadership skills but even at the age of 38 he still has point or so to prove which he did while batting like Ganguly of 2000 against DC.

Next leg of this IPL is going to be more interesting as all the teams know their targets and the requirement to reach the Semis. Like CSK would have to win atleast next 4 or 5 out their 6 allotted matches. These contests would be close fought and only the balanced teams would make it to top 4.

Meanwhile apart from IPL in the neighboring state; another storm has hit its cricket after slicing and dicing the administration now its time to do the same with the team members as well; Mohmmad Yusuf has announced his retirement once again; There is nothing unusual about that, except that few others before him actually announced it that way. Guess this is the final time he is doing it; although sports do have history of people making comebacks Many great players across eras have retired and returned. Jordan did and Schumacher has and Yousuf's great countryman Imran did. While you never know what tomorrow brings in Pakistan cricket, you cannot help get the feeling that this is it for an extremely classy player, who for all his grace and style and runs always had a cloud hovering above him. So with Inzamam gone, and presumably Younis and Yousuf too, you have to wonder who will carry the legacy of great Test batsmen from Pakistan.

Pakistan loves being in news may it be through its terrorism or through sports; this week Pakistan's Out of favor former captain Shoaib Malik & Overrated Indian tennis hottie Sania Mirza who is news more because of her T-shirts rather than her game; walked in front of media and promised to get married . This opened up a new Pandora's box for Shoaib Malik who is already married to some one here in Hyderabad. Lets wait and watch if his continuous efforts of being Damad (Son-in-law) of India materializes or not. A fact that Malik in the same manner that Pakistan denies its role in 26/11 and the fact that it has had its ass handed to it in 1971 and 1999.

It sounds ridiculous to be reprimanded and fined for speaking your mind; Gambhir’s statement did mention what was reality. To fine who would mean that cricketers would not be able to speak their mind and we would all the more boring comments like the way we get it in Newspaper columns supposedly written by players. Guess some one needs to argue on this policy and get it right. Diplomacy does not bring out the truth and real situation.

Last but not the least Midway into season three of the Indian Premier League, the dollar signs have got larger, the hype louder and the gossip and side stories even more complicated. This year's tournament has been almost taken over by the numbers being discussed for next year and the drama being anticipated as the IPL jumps orbits from eight teams to 10.

Two new franchises were sold on March 21 Pune went to the Sahara business group for US$370 million, and the Rendezvous Sports World consortium won the rights to Kochi for US$333 million. That aside, all IPL teams will now be allowed to spend up to US$7 million a year each to recruit players. This would include money spent on direct hiring, retaining some of the players contracted for the first three seasons - subject to rules to be framed by the IPL council - and buying new players at a razzmatazz sequel to the inaugural auction in Mumbai in February 2008. The new cap is US$2 million above the previous one.

Finally, with the next round of auctions would be in September, most of the young Indian players are, quietly and not-so-subtly, lobbying for a place with the Chennai Super Kings. Just the way the quickest way to a man’s heart is not through his stomach, it’s now common knowledge that the quickest way to the Indian team is not through the Ranjis. It’s through the Chennai Super Kings team. Vijay, Badri, Balaji, Goni, Tyagi, Ashwin to name the last few.

You can love IPL or you can hate it, but you can’t ignore it. And that’s just the way Lalit Modi likes it.