Cash-rich league gambles on return to ‘spirit of cricket’

THE billionaire Indian Premier League starts tomorrow aiming to prove that it is about the spirit of cricket rather than success at all costs, after the banning of Steve Smith and David Warner over a test cheating storm.

The lucrative but scandal-tainted Twenty20 tournament has battled its own series of controversies over the last few years.

So when news broke that Smith and Warner – who had both been due to captain IPL teams – had been barred by Cricket Australia for 12 months over last month’s ball-tampering row in South Africa, India’s cricket board quickly followed suit.

With Smith’s side, the Rajasthan Royals, returning from a two-year corruption ban, they could not afford to have kept their disgraced skipper.

Along with the Chennai Super Kings, the Royals are one of two franchises back in the Indian league this season after a two-year hiatus for separate illegal betting scandals.

Meanwhile, IPL founder Lalit Modi remains in Britain, refusing to return to India to face corruption charges.

For the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which earns huge sums from the Twenty20 tournament, the desire to avoid further controversy is clear.

“The BCCI hopes that the cricketers participating in the IPL hold the highest regard for the spirit of cricket and code of conduct for players and match officials,” it said at the height of the Australia cheating storm.

Warner has also been dropped from his IPL team, the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Rising Indian stars have been made well aware of the need to redeem cricket’s image in its stronghold country.

“There is always a lot to learn from everything, but I always believe that cricket is a gentleman's game,” Delhi Daredevils wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant said this week. “The sport should be played in the same spirit.”

Despite the troubles, the IPL’s appeal is on the rise. Rupert Murdoch’s Star India signed a five-year $2.55-billion (R30.5-billion) broadcast deal for IPL rights last year that gave a new boost to the coffers of the world’s wealthiest cricket board.

The pyrotechnics, cheerleaders and huge pay cheques have still attracted top foreign stars to play in India’s sweltering heat.

“The IPL towers over everything in cricket, although that is not all that matters,” Australian writer Gideon Haigh noted. “India also has a sharp appetite for national success and prestige, which the IPL also gratifies, but on its own cannot meet.

“This will continue to underpin support for and engagement with Virat Kohli’s team.”

The player auction held ahead of the new season was another show of India’s riches.

England allrounder Ben Stokes will again be the player to watch after being bought by the Royals for $1.96-million (R23.5-million).

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson will be in the spotlight after being appointed Hyderabad’s captain. Warner led the side to the IPL title in 2016.

Williamson is now the only foreign captain in the eight-team league once dominated by imports. – AFP