Given all the shady financial dealings and the various instances of conflict of interest over the first three years of the IPL, the government has every right - indeed, an obligation - to step in and demand an explanation. The problem is that the parliamentary standing committee on finance has chosen to stray beyond its remit. As long as it confined itself to questioning the BCCI bigwigs about alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act violations and the like, well and good. But it had no business questioning the presence of cheerleaders or asking why players were auctioned like "gladiators".
The IPL is, first and foremost, entertainment. That is true of all televised sport to varying degrees. The IPL's mixture of glamour, big money and cricket played at a frenetic pace has no parallel in Indian sport. It is the brand's USP. And both the auction and the cheerleaders are an essential part of this. The former showcases the business aspect of the entire enterprise; the suspense of watching franchise teams being made and remade as one watches. You won't hear the players complaining either, given how this model has boosted their financial rewards.
And as for the cheerleaders, why not? They provide on-field glamour, they add to the spectacle and they entertain viewers, whether at the ground or on television. Is any other reason needed? And how is it the parliamentary committee's concern when the cheerleaders have absolutely nothing to do with the propriety of the IPL's financial dealings or lack thereof? This sort of spectacle has been part of sport for decades, whether it's the cheerleaders in American sport or the much-photographed 'soccer girls' who seem to turn up in droves for every football World Cup. It won't do the IPL any harm. The committee would do better to leave off pseudo-moralistic commentary and focus on its core task.
The IPL is, first and foremost, entertainment. That is true of all televised sport to varying degrees. The IPL's mixture of glamour, big money and cricket played at a frenetic pace has no parallel in Indian sport. It is the brand's USP. And both the auction and the cheerleaders are an essential part of this. The former showcases the business aspect of the entire enterprise; the suspense of watching franchise teams being made and remade as one watches. You won't hear the players complaining either, given how this model has boosted their financial rewards.
And as for the cheerleaders, why not? They provide on-field glamour, they add to the spectacle and they entertain viewers, whether at the ground or on television. Is any other reason needed? And how is it the parliamentary committee's concern when the cheerleaders have absolutely nothing to do with the propriety of the IPL's financial dealings or lack thereof? This sort of spectacle has been part of sport for decades, whether it's the cheerleaders in American sport or the much-photographed 'soccer girls' who seem to turn up in droves for every football World Cup. It won't do the IPL any harm. The committee would do better to leave off pseudo-moralistic commentary and focus on its core task.
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