(Suveen Sinha is a writer and author based in Delhi. This column first appeared in Business Standard on September 2, 2021)
- Three days after the Indian cricket team collapsed at Leeds, losing all 10 wickets for 78 in the first innings and the last eight for 63 in the second, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) invited bids to add two franchises to the Indian Premier League (IPL), increasing the number of teams to 10 for the 2022 edition. There was no criticism, no carping, no crucifixion. The announcement of the new IPL teams was greeted largely by factual reportage and commentary focused on the additional revenue (the base price for each franchise is reported to be Rs. 2,000 crore) and how the larger structure would play out on the field. In the good old days, by which we mean before the team’s two victorious tours of Australia, we would have criticised and crucified the BCCI and carped on about its avarice in chasing money at the cost of killing the golden game that was Test cricket. But things have changed.