The Indian Heaven Premier League(IHPL) being played in Srinagar was suspended mid-way on Sunday after players and umpires said they have not been paid. The organisers of the league, being touted as Kashmir’s own T20 cricket league, seems to have just crumbled. The tournament was slated to be held from October 25 to November 8 and all seemed ok till late Saturday evening. By November 3, everything seems to have just fell apart with no organisers to be found, nor teams on the ground for scheduled matches.
Former top Indian players Ashu Dhani and Surinder Khanna were among the organisers but neither of them is in Srinagar to hold the crumbled cookie. West Indies player Chris Gayle, who was billed as a big draw, has left Kashmir valley after playing three matches as have many other international players from Sri Lanka, South Africa and Bangladesh. The organisers of the league have also vanished from the Valley leaving the players as also umpires in hotel rooms with bills worth Rs 80 lakh remaining unpaid. This has led to the hotel management locking the rooms, leaving the players without food and accommodation.
Shakib Al Hasan from Bangladesh, Martin Guptill from New Zealand, Imran Tahir from South Africa, Jesse Ryder from New Zealand, Thisara Parera and Malinda Pushpakumara from Sri Lanka, Shaun Marsh from Australia were top foreign players participating. Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Parveen Kumar and Pervez Rasool were some former Indian players turning up from some sides.
The league was being played in Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium, a ground meant for cricket, football and government events and has been drawing huge crowds since October 25 inaugural match. Eight teams participated in the league, which featured former West Indies big hitter Chris Gayle.
Gayle Played
The league had released a list of 32 former international players initially and rest of the players included former Ranji players and local talent. With eight teams participating, it was no less than over 100 players who were expected to turn up, either playing or warming the benches as reserves.
The league gained attention after Gayle played with local and former Indian cricketers. It was inaugurated by J&K minister for Youth Services and Sports Satish Sharma on October 25. He had called it “a proud day for J&K’s sporting community” while welcoming the players. The final of the league was scheduled on November 8, Saturday afternoon.
The players were lodged in more than 100 rooms in a five star hotel Radisson Collection in posh Rajbagh area in Srinagar, on the banks of the river Jhelum. “The organizers had booked the hotel rooms up to November 9. But they did not pay the money and left with more than Rs 80 lakh unpaid and have reportedly fled. We locked the rooms this morning, but let the players leave,” a senior hotel staff member said. He said that they are not forcing the players to clear their bills individually as some heated exchanges took place on the premises.
Organisers Flee
Mellissa Juniper, who was umpiring in the matches, told reporters that the organizers had fled in the dead of night and their phones remained switched off. “Bills have not been paid to the hotel, to the players and to the umpires and everyone else. League management is not seen anywhere, their phones are switched off,” she said.
“We have come into an agreement with the hotel management to allow the players to leave home with their families. Around 40 players are in the hotel; they have not been paid and it is not fair for them to stay away from their families,” one hotel management official said.
Adil Reshi, a former Ranji player from J&K, said he was one of the first to quit from the league once he was not paid for a couple of matches. “There was no official contract. The league was completely mismanaged. I was worried about the young cricketers and had informed them before leaving,” he explained.
The league organizers listed 32 former international players, among them Chris Gayle had played three matches and left some days before, while former Sri Lankan allrounder Thisara Perera had played one match and left Srinagar. Besides them, South African players Richard Levi, Shoaib Muhammad and Ayan Khan of Oman featured in the matches.
Former Ranji players from J&K Parvez Rasool, Iqbal Abdullah, Faiz Fazal and Ishwar Pandey also featured in the league. A former Indian cricketer, who did not want to be named, said he was brought to Kashmir but not paid a single penny.
Private League
J&K Sports Council Secretary J&K Nuzhat Gul said the organisers had hired the Bakshi Stadium on rent for the league and got permission from the Srinagar administration. “The organisers were from Delhi; they hired the stadium and paid the rent. They had invited the minister for sports and youth services for inauguration. It was a private league and had nothing to do with us,” she said.
IHPL T20 had been marketed as a platform to promote sports tourism and nurture cricketing talent in J&K, but the event’s legitimacy is now in question. The tournament is neither sanctioned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) nor by the J&K Cricket Association (JKCA). Both the official organisations refused to comment on how and why things went haywire leading to heartbreaks for many local players who hoped to rub shoulders with big names.
