February 27, 2009

Shunned, banned, but free

Applause, if you would, for free market principles as espoused by cricket's Indian Premier League (IPL).

These lines, in particular: "The BCCI has shunned official contact with ICL players and last year, refused to let VVS Laxman appear for Nottinghamshire because the county had ICL players in its ranks. The Indian board banned players associated with the unsanctioned league from all forms of official cricket and barred them from using any of its facilities. The BCCI also used its influence within the ICC to ensure that other national boards banned ICL cricketers and officials alike."

How proud I am about this continuing evidence of the continuing expansion of market forces into cricket. About the flowering of such things as competition and freedom of choice.

Update: Actually, what I wonder about is, why didn't Sachin T insist on playing this T20? Who's going to stop him if he says he wants to play, regardless of IPL's notions of "bans"? What penal action is the BCCI going to be able to take against an icon like him? So why didn't he play? Any thoughts out there?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now we know why it's called the Board of CONTROL for Cricket in India

Anonymous said...

Why was South Africa penalised by the global sporting community two decades ago but the BCCI is free now?

Anonymous said...

you might want to read Suresh Menon's article on cricinfo, which echoes your feelings. here it is.

http://blogs.cricinfo.com/longstop/archives/2009/02/the_unpeople_of_icl.php

Mayuresh Gaikwad said...

The BCCI would definitely have kicked Sachin out if he had played the T20 game. They stopped the pension of Kapil Dev when he became associated with the ICL, remember! Icon or no icon, BCCI is a monopoly and is arm-twisting everyone to ensure that it remains the same!

Anonymous said...

another article which seems to say the same.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/call-this-cricket/436180/