Rising Pune Supergiants successfully bidding for Ben Stokes for 14.5 crores in IPL auction is complete madness at a time when unemployment is on the rise in the country. Such filthy amount is not even the yearly sports budget of many a sporting federation of different games in our country and the government needs to put a cap on such expenditures which is a national waste. Tymal Mills was bought by Bangalore for 12 crores while Ishant Sharma who is a member of the Indian national team went unsold. Is IPL encouraging or promoting foreign players or meant to do good for Indian cricket is a question mark?
Everybody knows that IPL is played for bookmakers in our country but the fact that betting is illegal in our country is sadly overlooked. Matches at times are fixed and the league has been in controversy since its inception. Rules for IPL should be made stricter so that focus is on promoting Indian cricket than on ‘tamasha’ (filthy entertainment) which destroys cricket in the longer run. Better sense should prevail and the government with the help of law bodies including the courts should protect Indian cricket which has brought so much glory to the nation over the years.
S.N. Kabra
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
