The sordid off the field IPL saga came to a head yesterday, and resulted in the suspension of the high flying IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, ostensibly to ensure a fair investigation into his alleged misdeeds.
While I don't have a view on whether Modi is guilty or not, and whether his suspension was fair or not, I am quite amused by the complete abdication of responsibility by the entire IPL governing council. The IPL governing council is obviously a body that has the responsibility to oversee, question, facilitate, and approve major decisions of the organization. It is composed of many senior BCCI officials, high profile cricketers, and politicians. A group of this caliber is obviously capable of, and empowered to keep things on track. For 3 years they turned a blind eye to proceedings, and when the shit hit the fan, their best defence turned out to be ignorance! And of course incompetence by implication.
I would have been delighted if a few of the governing council members had also put in their resignations, owning some of the responsibility for the serious charges levelled against the league. I do not expect the BCCI officers or the politicians to take this high moral ground. However people like Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, and MAK Pataudi lost a great opportunity to demonstrate their strength of character because of their public silence and continuance on the council. I am a huge fan of Gavaskar and Pataudi, and would have put them on a pedestal had they taken responsibility publicly and resigned.
No one is perfect I suppose, and great cricketers are not necessarily great leaders.
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