The sensational Mumbai terrorist attack is yet to sink in ,but its aftermath is already clearly visible. The world of sport is one of the primary sufferers, especially if India is the economic powerhouse of the game. The English cricket team has already called off its ongoing tour(Escapes an embarassing whitewash), and the much expected Champions Trophy has been postponed, which never came as a surprise, with Mumbai scheduled to host a few matches. India is becoming another Pakistan in this regard. But even if this gruesome incident had not occured, the Champions Trophy was never on a safe and smooth ride.
For those who are not in sync with the topic-Champions league, the depleted version of the UEFA Champions league soccer tournament, was a tournament scheduled to be played between the top county teams from India, Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan. The organisers already did have quite a few things to worry about. Firstly the global meltdown in US, which inturn affected the other nations, came to scare the cricket world too. Can you believe if I say that there were no sponsors available for the Champions League, with top teams from all over the world participating? I still could not believe it. With the success of the IPL and the current performance of the Indian national cricket team, Sponsors should have galored and that was what the organisors would have expected. But it was otherwise, with no one ready to spend huge amounts as sponsors when their own livelihood was at crossroads. ESPN-STAR had bought the Television rights for a huge amount, and when the sponsors were found on the backfoot, they are now into a negotiation with the Champions league organisors.
Next worry was the state of the venues where the matches were to be played - Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai. Arent these the best cricketing venues in the country? Then why and how should this be a problem? Yes. These are arguably the best available venues to host such a mega event, but the problem lies elsewhere. The MAC, chepauk in chennai is said to be a cursed ground, why not with 4 of the last 6 matches played here producing no result due to inclement weather. Chennai is by no means a Chirapunji or a Mawsyram!! With the cyclone 'Nisha' playing havoc in Tamil Nadu, the whole state is submerged. Forget about matches, people could hardly step a foot out of their homes. Bangalore is no better, with the one-dayer between India nad England reduced to a 20-20 match, and signs for the future are also not encouraging. Mumbai was the only place without any problems, but we have a plenty now...in a span of 12 hours.
Players burnout is not an issue originally attached to the Champioins League, but with the International calender already cramped and you try to squeeze in another league then it is a real issue. Dhoni was to lead the Chennai SuperKings in the Champions league, and if had done well enough to lead his team to the finals, then I am not sure if he would had been thoroughly happy. Yes, that is because he had to play the final on Dec 11 and then had to lead the Test side against England. Phew!!! Im tired myself.
Can you ever hear Lalit Modi, the Chairman of IPL and one of the co-founders of the Champions league, to let go a tournament(in India) so easily, without any fuss. He did it, because there were already pressure mounting on him in handling this league.
The only gain to be taken from the postponement , is the players can have a pleasent rest for a month or so.
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hi dude.. BCCI should not conduct any tournament in south india during north east mansoon. at the same time, they should consider south west mansoon too.. this too mansoons are there for years.. its because of poor planning we end up in rain interference..
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