It’s intriguing arithmetic. After adding two new franchises to its stable, the Indian Premier League now runs the serious risk of going into its fourth edition with seven cricket teams, one less than the original eight.
In that March 21 news conference in Chennai, Lalit Modi, still one month away from a dramatic dumping, was doing what he does best — reeling off mindboggling numbers.
Modi welcomed Pune and Kochi on board and waxed eloquent on how recession-proof the cash-awash league was.
Seven eventful months and Modi is now hounded by the anti-corruption agency while IPL is grappling with a rumbling ownership row which already has led to the ouster of two teams — Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals.
Kochi may just become the third.
According to media reports, the consortium which paid $333.33 million to own the 10th IPL team is a divided house and unlikely to meet BCCI’s deadline of forming a joint venture company by Thursday.
In India, a thin line separates bravado from infamy. In a country that swears by its Bollywood potboilers, it does not take long to turn a one-time hero into a villain.
