5 things Ian Botham got wrong during his rant against IPL

Former English all-rounder Ian Botham delivered a scathing criticism of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and even called for it to be banned, during his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's. For all its shortcomings, the IPL does not deserve such comments, appearing to emanate more out of frustration than based on logic. Though there can be several more, I have noted 5 things which Botham got wrong during his rant.

#1 Singling out the IPL

A lot of statements issued by Botham against the IPL could have been applicable to any cricketing league in the world – almost every country has one of its own. Had Botham spoken about how the evolution of T20 cricketing leagues all over the world is threatening Test cricket, it would have made good sense. However, singling out the IPL as the root of all evil prevalent in cricket today, appears childish to say the least.

ndia has a higher population than any other cricketing nation, and is therefore one of the biggest commercial markets in the world. This makes it the darling of sponsors, resulting in the IPL being more cash rich than other leagues, but apart from this, it is quite similar to most other leagues in the world.

Botham was mum about the NatWest T20 Blast, started by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) from 2014. Agreed that its prize money is about 1/10th of that of the IPL, but going by the logic he presented, it must possess all the other ‘evils’ which IPL does. On the matter of corruption, an article in today’s Daily Mail concludes, “The official report into corruption in cricket is expected to reveal that the beginnings of the problem first began in England three decades ago before spreading into a sinister worldwide network which include allegations of murder and kidnap”.

I agree that Botham could not have foreseen this report being published a few days after his allegation of corruption against the IPL, but surely, he would be aware that one of the biggest match-fixing scandals post 2000 came during the Pakistan vs. England Test (yup, not IPL, but cricket in its ‘purest’ form) at Lord’s in 2010. Before pointing a finger at the IPL, he should have deeply introspected the evils prevailing in his own system.

#2 Getting his facts wrong

In recent days, English cricketers, current or former, have not really been bothering about facts or logic during their recent media interactions. Keeping up with the tradition, Botham’s salvo against the IPL departs from reality in a big way.

Botham thundered: “How on earth did the IPL own the best players in the world for two months a year and not pay a penny to the boards who brought these players into the game?”

If this were true, then it would indeed have been a valid complaint against the cricketing league. However, as clarified by BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel, “The BCCI has distributed over ten million US dollars as compensation to the other cricket boards for allowing their players to play in the IPL.”

#3 IPL is not the first to change cricketing priorities

Another allegation hurled by Botham against IPL was: “I'm worried about the IPL - in fact, I feel it shouldn't be there at all as it is changing the priorities of world cricket”.

If by priorities, he means cricketers preferring lucrative financial gains over playing for the country, that habit has been around since the 1970s, when Kerry Packer launched his alternate World Series Cricket, built on the backbone of financial incentives, and several international cricketers preferred it over their national duties. IPL has not ushered in this particular priority change.

Though Botham was not lured by Packer during his hey-day, he definitely had no hesitation in promoting the Standford T20, which came onto the scene much earlier than the IPL, and had a winner prize money of $20 million, dwarfing the IPL winner’s cheque of $2.5 million. The sponsor, Allen Stanford, is currently serving a 110 year sentence on corruption charges – double standards, anyone?

#4 The stage which he chose

Everyone from cricketing experts to yours truly or any reader of this article is entitled to his opinion, and of course, criticism. The thing to remember is that, as one moves higher up the pecking order, the more seriously one’s words are taken, and correspondingly increases the responsibility in terms of what one speaks.

The famous line from the Spiderman movie – ‘With great power, comes great responsibility’ is certainly apt in this context. While Botham is no Spiderman, he is definitely a respected individual in the cricketing universe, and his words will have created an impact. An even more serious issue is the stage – if Botham had said the same during an interview to a magazine or during a commentary session, things may not have been as bad.

However, choosing one of the most widely followed events at the Mecca of cricket for a tongue-lashing session was completely uncalled for; it sends out a very negative message about the IPL to a very large audience, with the league being equated to most things wrong in international cricket today.

#5 Getting his timing wrong

IPL has a two-fold connection with England in the current year. Firstly, Kevin Pietersen was the only English player selected by an IPL franchise in 2014, that too after he was controversially axed from the Test side; 10 others went unsold. The second connection is that, a lot of cricketing greats are linking England’s lack of aggression in the current ODI series to limited exposure in highly competitive events like the IPL. Is the frustration of England’s tame display combined with their non-participation in the IPL prompting such an outburst?

Had Botham come out with his insights any other time, it may have been considered another critical observation by a cricketing great. In the current context, it appears more like a personal attack in the ‘grapes-are-sour’ mode. Had he toned it down a bit and still got his point across, one may have pondered over his good intentions, but the discontent expressed by him seems to be lesser in a global context, and more about the inability of English cricket to benefit from the league.