New Delhi, March 28
Union Sports Minister MS Gill has lashed out at Indian cricket board for changing the rules of the game and allowing the cash-awash Indian Premier League to run a commercial venture. Gill said the rules of cricket had been changed by the IPL, and acquiesced by the BCCI, by way of giving batsman advantage over bowlers to promote entertainment, allowing mongoose bat and shortening boundaries, all to earn profit.

“What the IPL is doing, the bowler is only the victim and the bat -- now you have a mongoose bat (and) I look forward to a cobra bat. The boundaries have been shortened… the whole thing is to entertain the masses. And the bowler is just an instrument for this promotion. IPL is fundamentally business…" Gill told Karan Thapar during ‘Devil's Advocate’ programme on CNN-IBN.

“Its focus is earning money. Now two new teams have been bought and one of the gentlemen who has bought… said look this is business, we bought it for business and our job is to earn from it. Cricket is an instrument of business," he added.

The Minister dared to touch upon the controversial issue of some IPL stakeholders holding powerful posts in the BCCI and said those involved in the Twenty20 league should not be part of the Board to avoid conflict of interest. “…those who control the game, that is BCCI, they have a direct interest as owners of teams, as people who have a direct benefit from it and this is something very dangerous. What I have noticed, and I am sure everybody else has, (that) major office-bearers are on both sides,” Gill said.

Gill said the IPL was not only detrimental to the health of other longer formats of the game but it had also damaged the sportsmanship of the cricketers and their urge to play for the country. "…the five-day Test is under challenge and you see nobody turns up for it, crowds have already been moved away. Even the 50-over is reduced to T20 and I sometimes say jokingly that we’ll go to T5 and then T1 and then half an over,” he said.

"I don't know if there should be a requirement (to set aside a fixed percentage of its funds to assist other sports). You are asking for a government regulation that's something I wouldn't off-hand say. They are giving us some money but not of a large amount considering what they have and what they could give. I would like them to contribute much more," Gill said.

“I would also like Indian business… to show greater charity… they could all take up one game each. For them to say I will spend Rs 20 crore a year and Rs 10 crore is no big deal. I am making a request (here) and like it or not they are going to do it. They've got lots of surpluses and I don't want to name anyone. Why don't they now loosen their purse and take Indian sport up because they also need to build their image by us winning gold medals," he added.

Gill was against reduction or exemption of entertainment tax for IPL and said state governments should not succumb to the pressure. He said rather the Twenty20 league should pay the government money for using the police and other security apparatus.

“I am very clear on that. This is a poor country. There is a huge deficit in the budget even this year… when business is earning it in the shape of these teams and whatever the structure, I think the legitimate tax should be taken and should be used for the country maybe even for sports, other sports,” he said. — PTI