Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals stay on: Players benefit from Supreme Court verdict

Had CSK and RR been suspended, it would have been near to impossible to accomodate them.

The Supreme Court allowed Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals to remain in the Indian Premier League (IPL), 2014, a day after it recommended their expulsion. Nishad Pai Vaidya writes that this has helped benefit players and save many jobs of people, who would have done no wrong.

For 24 hours, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals may have been nervous about their fate. On March 27, Supreme Court suggested that the two franchises should be barred from participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as it looks into spot-fixing and the betting scandal. The two teams can certainly breathe a sigh of relief, more importantly, the players would be happy that they would get to play in the IPL. While many may construe the IPL to be a source of huge income, it also provides many players with the necessary exposure to make a mark.

Justice Mukul Mudgal, the man who headed the commission that wrote the report, did tell ESPNcricinfo that “all the players shouldn’t suffer” and that there are a those who are “extremely dedicated.” Justice Mudgal does have a point as the wrongdoings of a few shouldn’t have serious implications on players who have worked hard to get where they are. If the two sides would have been barred from participation, it would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible to accommodate them in other teams in such a short span of time.

The franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala folded up after their maiden season and Pune Warriors India was out after three appearances. Yet, there weren’t too many problems to accommodate those rosters as the players could head back into the auction. After Kochi’s ouster, their domestic players were in fact there to be picked. Had Chennai and Rajasthan encountered the same fate with a binding order from the Supreme Court, the IPL would have been in a spot to put those players in teams. They surely couldn’t have organised auctions with less than three weeks to for the IPL.

Full coverage of Supreme Court hearing on IPL 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal

The Supreme Court is currently investigating where Chennai’s owner had indulged in wrongdoing. Plus, another big issue is whether or not he was in fact the owner. The three players arrested on accusations of spot-fixing last year belonged to Rajasthan. Their owner too is under the scanner. But, the Supreme Court has done well to allow the two sides to participate this year and helping the players in the process. It isn’t about the players alone, but the IPL also creates livelihood and employment for many. The expulsion of two teams would have meant hundreds could have lost their jobs. According to the Times of India, this explusion would have meant Rs 9,000 crore loss in revenue.

The owners may or may not have been guilty of wrongdoing; the Supreme Court will look into it in the months ahead. But at their expense, the employees should not suffer. Remember the Satyam scandal of 2009? The chairman had accepted that he hadn’t played fair, but then with a public auction in place, the company was taken over by Mahindra. As a result, hundreds got to keep their jobs. For now, the same has applied to the IPL as the court continues to probe into the matter. But, remember, this is an interim order i.e. for the time being. The final judgment may have different repercussions!

(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_44)