Akshat Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Modi :hatsoff: Hats off to Modi after his 48-hour mission to find IPL's new home Lalit Modi displays an admirable dynamism and decisiveness the ECB would do well to adopt Gerald Majola, the chief executive of Cricket South Africa, and the IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, right, announce that the tournament will take place in South Africa. Photograph: Duif du Toit/Getty Images The speed with which Lalit Modi has taken the Indian Premier League away from India and confirmed South Africa as the host nation next month has been simply breathtaking, establishing him beyond doubt as one of the most effective sports administrators in history. A tournament that was in danger of collapse because of Indian security issues has been rescued by Modi's foresight, decisiveness and staggering self-belief. It is one thing to recognise a solution, it is quite another to make it happen. England may talk at times of his arrogance, but his dynamism has lessons for us all. It is salutary to reflect on how much most of us achieved by comparison in the 48 hours or so between Sunday afternoon, when Modi pronounced that the IPL would not be staged in India, to Tuesday afternoon, when South Africa were chosen ahead of England to host the tournament. I don't know about you but I forgot Mother's Day, went to the theatre, failed abysmally to change a wheel after a blow-out in the centre of Leeds and slashed my nose on a climbing rose. In the same time, Modi had successfully shifted the most talked-about one-day tournament cricket has known across continents. Extraordinary. Modi, like many successful businessmen, bows to democratic processes when things are running smoothly, but he could not be more autocratic when a crisis hits. This rarely matters. When decisions carry dangers, others are so fearful of the pitfalls that they are happy to hide behind someone brave enough to put their reputation on the line. Politics and Indian cricket intertwine, increasingly so, and the fallout that Modi risks by moving the IPL will be immense. If the Indian government escapes too much censure for the exporting of the tournament and is now able to draw up its security plans unhindered for the national elections, it will be immensely grateful for Modi's intervention. But Indian cricket fans are displeased and if opposition parties succeed in turning this into a nationalist issue then Modi could easily become the scapegoat. When Modi decided to act, his tactics were perfect. He probably knew from the start that South Africa was his preferred option, but he also knew that dealing with a sole bidder gave him limited room for manoeuvre. So he called up England as an alternative and cleverly, gratefully and with the certainty of someone with a good product to offer, played one off against the other. He did nothing to discourage media speculation that England was the favoured venue, knowing that this would quicken South Africa's resolve. By refusing to reveal whether he was heading first to Johannesburg or London, he kept all options open and turned the entire episode into a reality TV show. Would Gerald have the chance to bring the IPL to South Africa or would Giles rush back from Australia in time to steal the prize? He was at his shrewdest in repeatedly insisting that a decision had to be made by Tuesday. All around him, there was an urge to slow things down. But with reflection would come doubts and with doubts would come a loss of impetus. The only option was to force through the decision and then address the logistical problems that will now become apparent. And when Modi let England down, as he knew he must, he could not have done it more gently. He did not carp about the indolence of some county chief executives, who never got their head around the possibility, Lancashire to their credit being a prime exception. He did not wonder out loud why Britain was talking pessimistically of security issues because of the rival demands of the London Marathon and the G20 summit, as if each of these ran for seven weeks, in every city in the land. He did not speak of the bureaucratic problems that he would undoubtedly encounter in England where it takes on average two weeks to book a school sports hall. And he did not remark that South Africa's government had sounded a lot more enthusiastic. No, he blamed it on the English weather – "the overriding factor" – making it sound as if April temperatures had come as something of a surprise to him, even though he has a flat near Hyde Park, so allowing the England and Wales Cricket Board to shrug that it could not be answerable for that. The ECB had responded with unaccustomed speed in the circumstances – although even as it pulled on its seatbelts it could only talk of a decision by the end of the week. Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, has a tense personal relationship with Modi, but his business instincts were sharp enough to recognise, as he hot-footed it back from Australia, the potential benefits. Only Clarke spoke the same language, referring to itineraries being formulated and security issues being addressed. Indian cricket can be disturbingly capitalist, with little evidence so far that its riches have been used for public good. And when it comes to organisation there are some things that India prefers to leave to fate. By that calculation, the ECB is in a different league. But Modi's approach does have lessons for Britain. He saw a problem and dealt with it: rapidly, straightforwardly, emphatically, with not a sub-committee or viability report in sight. He deserves a tournament to remember. :hatsoff: :hatsoff: :hatsoff: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tapioca Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 “We are absolutely delighted with the new deal inked today with WSG and MSM. We have the best deal for the League and Indian cricket fans alike. I am certain that MSM will pull out all the stops in ensuring that the best technology is utilised to deliver excellent content that is creative, innovative and enriching for the cricket fans in India and across the globe,†said Mr. Modi. Hope they have written it into the deal that Sony will show all six balls of every over this time. It was for this that the contract was cancelled and renewed, right ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SachDan Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 Hope they have written it into the deal that Sony will show all six balls of every over this time. It was for this that the contract was cancelled and renewed' date=' right ?[/quote'] Exactly. Now onus is on Sony to make sure they provide quality coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hope they have written it into the deal that Sony will show all six balls of every over this time. It was for this that the contract was cancelled and renewed' date=' right ?[/quote'] Was it really that bad during last year's IPL? From what I have seen so far, NEO is the absolute worst when it comes to cutting to ads during a game. They miss last balls of an over, celebrations after a win, 3rd umpire deliberations, wicket replays etc. SET MAX's coverage of the NZ tour so far has been much better in that regard. Ten Sports have also been quite good in covering the Aus-RSA/Eng-WI series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tapioca Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Was it really that bad during last year's IPL? No, it was not any worse than what they usually are, and better than (what I have seen of) Neo. As you said, the coverage of NZ series is excellent (it is also partly because Arun Lal & co have stayed at home). This was just a excuse for Modi to get more cash, which was what I was trying to hint. If anything, Sony will show only four balls per over this time as they attempt to recover the extra money, and Modi won't care. The hypocrisy of IPL is staggering. All this happens in the full view of the public but the media does not utter a word. From what I have seen so far, NEO is the absolute worst when it comes to cutting to ads during a game. They miss last balls of an over, celebrations after a win, 3rd umpire deliberations, wicket replays etc. SET MAX's coverage of the NZ tour so far has been much better in that regard. Ten Sports have also been quite good in covering the Aus-RSA/Eng-WI series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamy Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 I am not against T20, what I'm against is diluting the Tests by scheduling more and more of this T20 and directly cutting into number of Test matches being played. For heavensake, there was supposed to be a 2 Test series vs NZ (got changed to 3 in the last minute). 2 Test series!!! What sort of a joke is that!? arre lota! How many T20s did India play since T20 WC?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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