Socialism is the Basic Philosophy of Indian Premier League

 

Socialism is the Basic Philosophy of Indian Premier League

Good, I got your attention through the word, “Socialism”; and, to add to the intrigue, there is the Indian Premier League (IPL) too. You think, along with the hordes that spend millions on tickets, snacks at the stadium and team merchandise, getting caught in the traffic on the return trip, IPL is capitalism. I am here to disabuse you of that notion.

Let me go back to how a season starts. Each team releases a few players, and retains a few others. Then, the auction starts. If IPL is capitalism, then, as per the saying that capitalists swear on, it is “red in tooth and claw”. But, this is not what we see in the auction. Every team has to work within the monetary limits imposed on it, like a definite sum of total money to be offered to the players. I do not know the details and I cannot even dream the amounts that are mentioned, down to the last rupee. I do watch the auction, just to feel jealous.

Do you think that John Galt or Howard Rourke (read my immediately preceding post) would have involved themselves in the auction? Perish the thought. They were Ayn Rand’s idea of an unfettered society in which the two were also unfettered–red in tooth and claw and whatever else.

Mumbai is the financial capital of India and there, the owners of the IPL franchise speak of money at no less than nine figure levels; it typically goes Rs. 1,000,000 000 and not a rupee less. Delhi is the corruption capital (where government rules the roost, corruption cannot be far away). Next in line is Bengaluru. You know why that figures third from the top in a grouping of ten cities, software creating hard currency.

Originally, there were eight teams, Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Chandigarh (Punjab XI King), in addition to the financial anchor cities mentioned. While Kolkata is a top city, its catchment area in terms of the financial heft it can draw upon is much reduced, I suspect. Chennai was neither a top city nor one with the finance muscle. And, so also was Hyderabad, some eighteen years ago. But, Jaipur? How could it have been one of the founding teams?  And, Chandigarh, for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)−inexplicable. With New Chandigrajh, perhaps ...

 Then, when IPL, wholly under the thumb of BCCI, which is a private entity (?) saw that more teams mean more mullah, Gujarat and Lucknow were added. This where it stands now, ten teams. Lucknow, how does it fill up its cricket stadium stands? I know, Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state and it is more rural than urban; it isnot impossible that people from the rural and peri-urban areas populate the stadium on match days. Ahmedabad (I wonder why its name has not yet been changed - Modinagar) is significantly bigger than Lucknow and also Chennai. It should have been one of the original cities hosting IPL. But, that is history, recent even if it so, and we would do better to ignore this anomaly.

Why the above details, explanations etc. if the focus should be on capitalism or socialism? Let your imagination roam. Is Mukesh Ambani not rich enough to buy all the ten franchises?

 Mukesh Ambani, who must be underwriting his wife’s foray into her team Mumbai Indians, could have bought the whole lot of the teams, from Mumbai to Lucknow. But, he did not, could not. This is where socialism comes in. Anytime any regulation does not allow for free play of capital−like in IPL−it is socialism. OK, perhaps Gautam Adani could have done something similar (before the supposed scandals−quite a few, but nothing I would be able to attest to or dismiss . I am not sure about the TATAs.

 Obviously (at least for me) what is happening is regulations have created a wall for no one sports entrepreneur to dominate the league. Strings are attached to the total payout to the athletes by a team, to be owned by one and only one (group of) investo; each group; like Chennai, by India Cements. What goes for IPL must also be true for football clubs.

 Surprise, surprise, Reliance Industries owns two, note, two clubs! Is that not a conflict of interest?

Yet, what becomes abundantly clear is the two professional sports leagues cannot be capitalist cabals.

Hence, IPL is socialist.

Raghuram Ekambaram

P. S. I am giving my readers some time off from reading my posts. I am off, for six months to one year.