Such Are The Ways Of The BCCI

That one can never be sure that what it says is going to happen, will actually happen. Nothing is certain until the first ball of the first game of IPL² is actually bowled. One might even be moved to surmise that the BCCI is the most self-centred and two-faced organisation on the face of this planet.

Sachin Tendulkar opines that an internationally hosted IPL² will be no fun. Yuvraj Singh doesn’t really care, as long as he has his family around him (when did Yuvi become such a 'family' man?) and John Buchanan thinks the IPL will still be played in its country of birth.

I subscribe to the conspiracy popular theory that the IPL Commissioner’s announcement on the weekend was merely an attempt to pressure the central government into falling at his feet. The murkiness of Indian politics (cricketing and otherwise) forces me to believe that the BCCI is currently applying every devious instrument it can get its hand on to turn the screws on the Home Ministry. Why else would the name of the new host nation still be shrouded in mystery, when it was to be unequivocally announced almost 12 hours ago?

I have strong suspicions that Cricket South Africa and the ECB are merely pawns in the filthy game that is the interplay between the BCCI and the Indian government. While the other two boards don’t have an option other than to fight over the BCCI’s scraps, the BCCI could do worse than to consider the implications of its scaremongering and, potentially, further sullying of its already compromised reputation.

A reality series on the behind-the-scenes workings of the BCCI would be a fascinating watch, wouldn’t it? Any TV producers short of a good idea?