Top 5 reasons why IPL must be banned

While the perception that cricket is a gentleman's game had received a severe blow way back in 2000, when the Match Fixing Scandal had erupted with Hansie Cronje being at the forefront, the recent turn of events have made sure in no uncertain terms, the clean image that the sport enjoyed is bid adieu for good.

With the Indian Premier League (IPL) embracing it's sobriquet of the 'Indian Problem League', and doing more harm than good for Indian cricket and cricket in general, it is high time that that the league is permanently shut and laid to rest. Why ? Here goes :

1. CORRUPTION: It was inevitable. A format that is tailor-made for malpractices (read spot-fixing), in a country that is the epicentre of betting, being organised by a board whose interests lie solely in minting money, corruption in IPL was destined to happen.

While the three Rajasthan Royals players - S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan have been arrested for their role in spot-fixing during this year's IPL, it seems that the BCCI couldn't stay true to the adage 'Once bitten, twice shy' when even last year the writing was on the wall. As many as five players were banned from the league after they were found guilty of spot-fixing in IPL 5. Medium pacer T P Sudhindra from the now-defunct Deccan Chargers was banned for life. Shalabh Srivastava was banned for five years while little-known names like Abhinav Bali, Mohnish Mishra and Amit Yadav were handed a year's ban each.

Unfortunately, what seems pretty obvious is that there exists an intricate nexus between the underworld, bookies, bollywood, police force, political bigwigs and the cricketers, constituting a vicious circle.  

2. LOSING TEST SPECIALISTS : It is often said that a Test specialist can play any form of the game as he has the requisite technique to excel in any format while a T-20 specialist can at best hone his skills to play limited overs cricket. Since the inception of the IPL in 2008, the priorities of budding cricketers have changed drastically. And such has been the pull of the so called 'domestic tournament'  in India with all its razzmatazz, that young players in India feel content if they are able to secure a place in any of the IPL franchise. The recent 4-0 whitewashes  in England and Australia are testimony to the fact that India is fast losing out on quality Test specialists. While at home, the team has always maintained its impeccable record, it's acid test will come once again when it tours South Africa in November 2013. And it will be interesting to find out the potential Test stars (if any) that are unearthed from the current set of domestic players playing in the ongoing IPL.

3. FEIGNING INJURIES :  Club versus Country. While this debate kept doing the rounds every now and then, it reached its peak in the fourth edition of the IPL, when players like Gautam Gambhir and Lasith Malinga chose the former in spite of carrying an injury and had to subsequently withdraw themselves from the international assignments that were scheduled post IPL. While Gambhir, bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a record $2.4 million aggravated his shoulder injury which he had picked up during the 2011 World Cup final by playing in the lucrative league, Malinga attracted criticism when he made himself unavailable for the Test series in England owing to injury claims while continuing to play in the cash-rich league.

4. EARLY RETIREMENT :  What does a player do when he is able to earn over ten times the annual salary from the parent board for just seven weeks' cricket in the IPL with glamour and popularity being additional perks. It's simple, he opts for an early retirement from international cricket and becomes a T-20 freelancer. From England's Andrew Flintoff to the Australian duo of Andrew Symonds and Brett Lee to even West Indies' Chris Gayle for some time, the big monies on offer have robbed the spectators and fans alike from witnessing these stalwarts ply their trade for their country for some more years.

5. CONTROVERSIES : IPL as a tournament has not only been besotted with controversies right from its inception but has somehow managed to thrive on it. From 'Slapgate' to 'Foreign Exchange Violations', from 'Fake IPL player' to suspension of Lalit Modi, from termination of the Kochi franchise to spot-fixing cases, the league has notoriously managed to stun the cricket fraternity along with the general public all along.

While the aforementioned reasons clearly justify banning the Indian Premier League for good, it is imperative that cricket administrators start spending the excess money in the coffers on the welfare of the cricketers. Closely monitoring the access to players will be a good start.