IPL is like 2-minute noodles - tasty but not good for you: Kirti Azad

Interview with Former cricketer & Member of Parliament

Kirti Azad, the former Test cricketer who later went into politics and is now in a second Lok Sabha term, had called last year for the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament to be ended, because of the persisting controversies on match fixing. He tells Aditi Phadnis why he thinks this state of affairs would endure.

Why does the IPL keep getting mired in all these controversies which have nothing to do with cricket and everything to do with cheating?
IPL is a commercial venture. They want the best individual who fits in a team. But for the players, it is important to perform, so that they can get a better contract. So, they play the best they can but for commercial reasons, not for the glory of their country or for the glory of the game.

Their performance is a function of buying and selling. They are basically employees of the team owners. So, the team performance has to be good but an individual performance has to be better. Otherwise, there is always the insecurity that the next time when the auctions are held, people won’t bid for you…

So, IPL is like two-minute noodles. They are tasty and they stave off momentary hunger. But they are not good for you. They are not food.

There are so many laws in place against money laundering. So many watchful eyes on large financial transactions. And, yet, this is the second time in one year that IPL finances are under scrutiny.

Consider what happened in England when some newspapers did a sting operation on some Pakistani players charged with match fixing. The police got into action within days, visited the players, drew up the chargesheet and the players were tried and convicted in weeks. They could not play cricket in England again.

Compare that to what happened to five boys who were similarly caught in a sting operation here. The matter was given to the former chief of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption and security unit, Ravi Sawani. He found five cricketers guilty of spot fixing and suspended them from cricket — for one year.

The strangest part is, the matchfixing could not have happened without the bookies and ancillary individuals engaged in money laundering. Did we ever get to hear who these people were? Were they punished? I’ve never heard of any bookie being arrested.

Why is that?
They’re all under the protection of one or other politician. I would not be surprised at all if matchfixing is a way of not just making money but sending black money out of the country. You can place bets here and collect the money somewhere else. Bookies are the only people who have the connections – between Karachi, Mumbai and Dubai. That is the nexus and, believe me, it is thriving.

Many associations have political patronage and they have been infiltrated by bookies. The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) is judge, jury and prosecutor, all rolled into one. Unless laws – not just relating to betting but also money laundering – are implemented, we will never see honest cricket, only dishonest cricket.