Corruption and security alerts engulf India in escalating crisis

Players voice their World Cup concerns after IPL explosions while Modi denies betting accusations

(GETTY)

India's status as the powerhouse of world cricket was looking distinctly suspect last night after a series of catastrophes. The repercussions for the global game are uncertain but have the potential to wreak disaster.

The most shuddering incident was the explosion of two bombs outside the stadium in Bangalore shortly before the start of an Indian Premier League match on Saturday night and the later discovery of three devices which did not detonate. Although nobody was killed 10 people were injured and security for the World Cup, most of which is due to take place in India next spring, was immediately brought into question.

The IPL itself was under scrutiny as never before – and could yet unravel – with the Indian government and the country's income tax department both expressing deep concern at its commercial dealings. Shashi Tharoor, the minister for external affairs, was forced to resign following allegations of corruption in the recent allocation of one of the new, highly sought after, IPL franchises. Lalit Modi, the IPL's colourful commissioner, threatened legal action after he was accused in a respected Indian paper of a sequence of financial misdemeanours.

The International Cricket Council, whose board gathered in Dubai yesterday for its quarterly meeting, reiterated that next year's World Cup would go ahead in India but that safety and security of players remained paramount. New and purportedly far-reaching procedures were instigated after the shooting ambush on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore last year as the players travelled to play in a Test match against Pakistan.

Seven policemen were killed, three players were injured and cricket's administrators were forced to realise for the first time that teams, despite previous assurances, were not automatically inured from attack. The weekend bombings in Bangalore merely reinforced the point.

Bizarrely, the match between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians proceeded after a short delay at the Chinnaswamy Stadium but the IPL semi-finals scheduled to take place at the ground this week have been moved. Kevin Pietersen, the England batsman who is on a £1.55m contract with Royal Challengers, was reportedly anxious and upset at the decision to proceed.

There was general relief that the competition will now finish entirely in Mumbai – the final is also being played there – but Mumbai itself was the scene of a major terrorist assault in November 2008, viewed live on television screens round the world. An ICC spokesman said: "Following the incident in Lahore a series of seven security recommendations were made and put in place. It is our prime concern and will be in the ICC World Cup next year."

But players will now, understandably, take some convincing with the World Cup being played in eight Indian cities (and three in Sri Lanka and two in Bangladesh). Ian Smith, the legal officer of the Professional Cricketers' Association, may have encapsulated many thoughts when he said: "The IPL is primarily an Indian event, whereas at the World Cup you've got a more dangerous situation, spread out with whole teams of foreigners rather than just a couple of blokes."

The ICC discreetly distanced itself from the events surrounding the IPL. But it was impossible to avoid the feeling that some if not all administrators outside India thought the competition had it coming. In its three-year existence the IPL has come to dominate the scene in a manner out of all proportion to its contribution to the sport in all but a financial sense.

It has undoubtedly brought a different dimension to cricket, mixing, as it admiringly likes to proclaim, sport and showbiz, and last month when two new franchises were sold they fetched a total of $703m, more than the combined total of the eight original franchises three years earlier.

Many of the allegations against Modi must be judged in the light of the fact that he deliberately courts controversy. But a lengthy investigation by the income-tax department has not come out favourably for him and a report in the Economic Times implicated him in betting on games and money laundering. It also suggested that IPL matches were open to being rigged.

Modi issued a statement through the IPL saying the report was "absolutely baseless, ill-founded and motivated." Later via his preferred recent method of communication, a Twitter posting, he said: "Lots in all media speculation, welcome all investigation, ready to extend all co-operation."