There have also been anguished protests at the huge expenses, including freebies, being a feature of the game when millions are living in poverty. Cricket, according to these detractors of the IPL, has nothing to do with the aam admi since it is mainly a pastime of the khas admi.

In all probability, these voices of dissent will grow louder as the probes into the businesses of the tycoons, who own the various IPL teams, reveal further details. Since no enterprise is squeaky-clean, as the funding processes of the political parties also suggest, the coming days and weeks are bound to provide the critics with a great deal of ammunition.

It is difficult to say where all this will lead except that a few more reputations may be ruined. But the lesson that has to be drawn from the still continuing unsavoury drama is that greater care must be taken while organizing an extravaganza of this nature involving the country's most favourite sport. There is little doubt that the BCCI has to shoulder much of the blame for the lapses that have taken place.

First, the IPL started as an afterthought for it, for it was really a riposte to the Indian Cricket League sponsored by Kapil Dev. When the BCCI saw that a rival competition can steal the thunder from the existing tournaments because of the attractions of the T-20 format, which has been described by purists as the “madcap version” of the game, it started its own cricket league.

In doing so, the BCCI decided to focus somewhat excessively on the monetary aspect if only because the organization itself is extremely rich. This was perhaps the second lapse because the auctioning of players for huge amounts made the cost of a player share as much, if not more, of the limelight than his talents. This was never the case before because cricket, unlike football, has always had a touch of aristocratic hauteur and disdain for the filthy lucre.

The most telling example of this snobbish attitude was the fact that a professional cricketer, or one who played for money, was not allowed to become the captain of the English team till Len Hutton broke the rule in 1952. Till that time, the English summer saw the traditional Gentlemen vs Players contest where the players were professional and the gentlemen were - well, gentlemen who played the game for pleasure and not for money.

It is true that those days are long gone and it would have been absurd to retain such a distinction in this day and age. But the fact that such a gap once existed underlines the fact that the traditions of cricket are different from those of other games. The IPL, of course, has smashed such traditions as effectively as T-20 has put even the 50-over game in the shade, not to mention Test matches.

But it is one thing to break a longstanding custom and quite another to build one. That the second task is infinitely more difficult is evident from the fact that the IPL has landed in a mess in only its third season. So much so that there are bound to be doubts as to whether there will be an IPL IV.

Already, it is possible that at least one of the two extra teams, which are scheduled to join it next year, may not do so. Besides, all the owners will now be viewed with suspicion with the result that some of the taint will affect the competition itself. As a result, there may an element of a shame-faced reaction to the merriment which has become a part of the IPL tradition.

The mistake which the BCCI made was to allow one man hog the limelight while running the show. Since so much money and glamour were involved, it should have kept a tight rein on the IPL's affairs, as it is now expected to do. There should also have been a conscious toning down of the razzmatazz, which can tend to jar when allegations of sleaze begin to fly around.

Whatever the regional parties of the Third Front and their Leftist friends may think, the IPL has captured the imagination of the sporting public. It has also been a boon to players on the verge of retirement as well as youngsters who are taking their first steps in their careers. The gala events are also in marked contrast to the terror-ridden atmosphere of Pakistan and Afghanistan and the continuing political uncertainty in Nepal and also in Sri Lanka, where a civil war has just ended.

The IPL sends out a political message, therefore, of India's success story in a gloomy region. It should not be allowed to peter out. (IPA Service)