Politics triumphs over cricket
Any link between the Cauvery dispute and the IPL is tenuous
On Tuesday, after a two-year suspension, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made a much anticipated return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) on home turf. But the joy over their homecoming was short-lived. The very next day, the Board of Control for Cricket in India was compelled to shift CSK’s remaining home games to Pune after the state administration expressed inability to ensure the required security arrangements. Before the match, protesters from political groups laid siege to the Anna Salai, the city’s arterial road, raising slogans against the hosting of matches at a time when the state was protesting the Centre’s purported inaction over the resolution of the Cauvery water dispute with Karnataka. Outside the stadium, there were calls for cancellation, threats of disruption and reports of fans being assaulted and forced to remove CSK jerseys. Inside, a protester hurled a shoe on to the pitch that landed near Ravindra Jadeja.
The tensions had been building up over the last few weeks. On February 16, the Supreme Court suggested a formula that gave Tamil Nadu a smaller but assured share through the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board. The top court had granted the Centre six weeks for the formation of the board. The six-week deadline lapsed on March 29.
IPL 2018 could have been a great advertisement for Chennai’s return to cricketing action. Instead it turned into a contest for political opportunism. Nobody exemplifies this better than actor-turned politician, Rajinikanth. Two weeks ago, CSK players MS Dhoni, Darren Bravo and Murali Vijay featured in a video teaser to promote his upcoming film Kaala. Within days, Rajini was asking the same players to wear black badges during the matches. Any connection that holding IPL matches in Chennai has with the water dispute and the consequent agrarian distress is tenuous at best. Clearly, the regional parties want to cash in on the anti-Centre emotion building up in Tamil Nadu and capture eyeballs during the IPL. But the manner in which even the government capitulated, with a minister asking tournament organisers to call off the matches, is abdication of responsibility.