Can the Indian Premier League Group be Free From Bias?
BCCI has put together a four-member panel to look into the future of the IPL. But the question worth asking is- is the BCCI committee free from all biases to take the correct decision? Wouldn't it have been better for the BCCI to once again form an independent body to map out the road ahead?
Rajeev Shukla, Anurag Thakur, Anirudh Choudhury, Sourav Ganguly now have the big task of saving BCCI's cash cow- the Indian Premier League. A press release from the board on Monday afternoon said that they will be supported by BCCI's legal head, Ushanath Banerjee.
"We had to form this committee to implement the Lodha panel's findings, Also chart the route ahead for IPL," said IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, "How shall we meet it an eight team tournament next year? Whether we need two fresh teams? Whether the two existing team can be run by others, we need to look at all such provisions." (BCCI Scared of Banning Chennai, Rajasthan After Kochi Fiasco)
The committee that was set up after an afternoon of fiery deliberations in Mumbai on Sunday will have to submit their report in six weeks.
BCCI is split wide open over the question of termination of the two suspended franchises- Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. While Rajeev Shukla, Ravi Shastri and Anirudh Choudhury are in favour of the two teams staying on, in order to avoid further legal mess, the likes of Anurag Thakur, Ajay Shirke and Jyotiraditya Scindia have asked for outright scrapping of the teams. Even Shashak Manohar, the former BCCI president, has said that it would be prudent of the BCCI to terminate the two beleaguered franchises.
It is no secret that the BCCI officials have their own vested interest and are aligned with two different groups. In a scenario such as this, can one expect the newly formed committee to take an unbiased look at the entire matter and come up with a solution that will indeed improve the image of the IPL? After all, even the Apex Court didn't trust the BCCI and hence set up their own committee to clean up the mess within the board
Why then the officials, who could not fix corruption are once again taking IPL's future in their own hands? Would it not have been wise of them to entrust the functions to a professional body who could ably chart IPL's future and put an end to the board's credibility crisis?