Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray
today demanded a ban on the controversial Indian Premier
League (IPL) "to save cricket".
"The ongoing controversy involving IPL Commissioner
Lalit Modi and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor has
maligned the image of the `gentleman`s game`. Ban the IPL to
save the game of cricket," he said in a statement tonight.
Lambasting the UPA Government, he said if it was
really concerned about the popular sport, they should
immediately ban the BCCI-backed cash-rich tournament.
"What is this Modi, Modi going on. The entire
controversy revolves around money so probe all the cricketers
involved in IPL-3," he said.
The Sena chief, an ardent cricket fan, wondered how
come the Reliance Group-owned Mumabi Indians, who were on a
winning spree in the IPL-3, all of a sudden lost to Shah Rukh
Khan`s Kolkata Knight Riders in a match yesterday.
Without naming Shah Rukh`s team, he said there is a
need to probe how come KKR won yesterday`s match and why key
MI players -- Sachin Tendulkar, Lasith Malinga and Kieron
Pollard -- did not play. Was there any betting involved
behind this?, he asked.
He also demanded a probe into the wealth of actors
and businessmen who have pumped in huge amount of money in IPL
franchisees.
-PTI
