IPL - Cricket; water politics at Wankhede

It’s 8 pm and the  glitzy IPL promo is now on; the games would start from tomorrow ~ it has run in to some rough weather even before the start.  For a purist, the game starts when the 2 Umpires takes their strides to the middle but IPL is different – theatrics, glam and glitz – thy name; this session already mired in some trouble.  …. First it was TN which wanted lankan players out ~ resolution - : no lankan player in Chennai  matches… then something more at Mumbai….. Cricket and politics are intertwined………

There were reports of Shahrukh promising this to be better than the earlier ones ~ well you cannot expect much from tinseldom !!  - the theatrics that was to follow was explained in this one shot….. girl going up on balloon, and Gautam Gambhir got the cup straight out of air……….. and one felt no reason for watching the show further…  moreover there was not to be Katy or Jo Lopez but it was to be Pitbull – who ?

 this photo courtesy - www.firstpost.com

Last year, Shah Rukh Khan’s drunken brawl with Mumbai Cricket Authority security guards at the Wankhede Stadium made many feel sour.  IPL brought to India,   Cheerleaders, known for revealing more than hiding, were not spared from IPL controversies. Gabriella Pasqualotto, a cheer leader from South Africa, who became quite popular after writing about the dark intentions of certain Cricketers and was later sent back home for her revelations, exposed some cricketers in her blog. Aussie player  Luke Pomersbach was involved in a molestation case which the woman involved Zohal Hameed, settled outside. There was also the sting operation in which  five uncapped players[Amit Yadav, Mohnish Mishra, Abhinav Bali, TP Sudhindra and Shalabh Srivastava]  were accused for fixing matches during IPL season 5.  None of them were proven guilty though !!

Here is something when Cricketers were involved……….. and of the 9 Captains – you had 4 Indians. 3 Lankans and 2 Aussies…..

this photo courtesy : www.cricinfo.com

In India, often selection is criticized ~ in the selection Committee, there is Regional representation and many a times, it is Regional interests than the National interest….. neighbours are no different – Pak is mired by lot of politics and before we read something of Mumbai … read this from Sri Lanka.

In the inaugural IPL, he was to be an integral part of Mumbai Indians ~ his batting style has won many  admirers : the gritty left hander, who became an opener late in his career - Sanath Teran Jayasuriya  scored more than 13,000 runs and captured more than 300 wickets in One Day Internationals.  He is a politician too ~ Jayasuriya ran for public office at the 2010 Sri Lankan general elections and was elected to the parliament from his native Matara District; he topped the UPFA parliamentary election list for Matara district by obtaining 74,352 preferential votes.

Jayasuriya, now the Chairman of Selectors  went out of the way to defend that of all rounder Ramith Rambukwella, the tall 6.3 – 21 yr old left handed opener who bowls right arm offbreaks too…..  Jaya was quoted as saying - "We don't just bring in players who perform, we also bring in players with talent’, referring to the selection of Ramith Laksen Bandara Rambukwella againstBangladesh. Rambukwella, 21, has played club cricket since 2011, but has hit only two half-centuries in 28 innings, across all formats. "I'm not saying you can get picked even if you don't bat well in domestic cricket, I'm saying if you are talented, or you've made runs in the past, we will give those players an opportunity. – Jayasuriya defended and added "Because it'sBangladesh, we wanted to give the youngsters a chance."

Ramith  is the son of media and information minister Keheliya Rambukwella. Also, Rambukwella was the defence spokesmen during the Sri Lankan Civil War.  In 1979, he turned out to be Sri Lanka’s youngest film producer when he produced the record breaking Sinhala movie “Sakvithi Suvaya” which starred film legend, late Gamini Fonseka. 

Back in India, Rajeev Shukla, Chief of IPL blamed BJP as opposing everything good for the Nation….. yes, opposing IPL is bad.  Rajeev Shukla is the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, and also the  secretary of the All India Congress Committee.  He earlier contested as a member of the Akhil Bhartiya Loktantrik Congress Party and later merged his party with Congress.  In Mumbai, citing  the drought crisis in Maharashtra, the BJP on Monday attempted to pin down the Prithviraj Chavan-led government over water usage for IPL games to be held in the state. During the Upper House proceedings, BJP legislator Chandrakant Patil sought permission to move an adjournment motion over the issue. While the motion was denied, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had to make a statement on behalf of the government in the House.  Patil claimed that watering of pitches and grounds used for IPL matches in the state required 60,000 litres of water.

With opposition leader in the legislative council Vinod Tawde already having asked IPL organizers to reconsider holding matches in the drought-hit state, Patil on Monday turned the heat on the government. "The state must at least levy heavy charges on the water used for the IPL games at the matches. The collected money should be used for drought relief," Patil demanded.  Shukla however criticized BJP as playing a political game, terming that while parts of the state were witnessing serious drought, there was no water scarcity scenario in places like Mumbai.

Armando Pérez  better known by his stage name Pitbull, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Cricket, and Politics are intertwined; still IPL would be of interest.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

2^nd April 2013.