Delhi Daredevils to avoid accepting gifts during IPL 7

Kevin Pietersen, the newly appointed Delhi Daredevils captain

Amidst the spot-fixing allegations, Delhi Daredevils have done their bit in ensuring that the Indian Premier League remains clean by asking their players and coaching staff to not accept gifts, be it in any form, during the 7th edition of the league, the first phase of which is set to begin from April 16 at the United Arab Emirates.

IndiaToday quoted a Delhi Daredevils official as saying, “Despite the guidelines of the IPL, allowing players or support staff to accept gifts, it was the decision of the management – GMR group – that nobody should accept any gift – irrespective of whether it is big or small. The IPL guidelines state that while token gifts can be accepted by a player, the individual needs to inform the IPL authorities if they are accepting something that is exorbitantly priced. But then, we felt that doing away with the whole concept of accepting gifts was the best thing to do.”

Another official added: “The IPL is a format which has a lot of fan following. It creates an environment for dubious characters to gain access to players and officials on the pretext of wanting to click pictures or get autographs or gift things to an individual. This is definitely a positive effort.”

While the move may not end all that is wrong with the lucrative league, this will surely let the wronged fans know that the intent of the teams is to play the game fair. The other 7 teams would do well to follow the GMR-owned Delhi-based franchise.