IPL in the Emirates

The start of the IPL today, following a six-month delay due to Covid-19, would gladden the heart of the Indian cricket fan, who has lived through a veritable drought since March — this is the longest period of inactivity for Indian cricketers in living memory. Many players have expressed fears that they may not be able to play well because of the long lay-off. But it’s clear that Covid is here to stay and life cannot grind to a halt due to it. There will be no fans at the ground and it’s made-for-TV fare, but cricket must go on, with the greatest possible care for the safety of the players, staff and organisers.

For the first time ever, the whole of the IPL would be played outside India — two earlier editions were played partly outside India due to the General Elections. The choice of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to host the IPL is understandable, but also somewhat dismaying. The UAE seems to attract a lot of people interested in corrupting sport — just five days ago, the International Cricket Council (ICC) charged two UAE cricketers for accepting ‘bribe/gifts’ in order to fix matches. In April, the ICC banned Deepak Aggarwal, a Dubai-based owner of a T10 League franchise, for ‘obstructing or delaying an investigation’, following uncovering of corrupt practices in cricket. Aggarwal, who is a free man as there are no criminal charges against him, is interested in the IPL, too. During the 2018 tournament, he illegally sought team information from Sunrisers Hyderabad player Shakib Al Hasan, who was banned when this came to light.

The track record of the Indian board and IPL management is not stellar when it comes to acting strongly against corruption — remember how they tried to brush the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal under the carpet in 2013? It’s not a good sign that BCCI has discarded the services of the ICC’s anti-corruption unit for the IPL and instead, hired a private sports integrity solutions company. Let there be play, but let there be integrity in sport, too.