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.