No point in crying over broken IPL & Champions LeagueT20 crockery

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali in New Delhi

This crockery was exported to South Africa for the IPL & Champions League T20 tournaments in 2009. On its return to India, the BCCI wanted to sell it to its affiliated associations at a 50% discount, but found no takers. Eventually, the BCCI distributed it free of cost, but most of it was found broken by the associations as it was loosely packed. PHOTO COPYRIGHT: QAISER MOHAMMAD ALI

SOMETIME ago the BCCI told its affiliated units that they could purchase IPL and Champions League T20 crockery languishing unused at its headquarters at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. To entice them further into purchasing the huge pile of tableware the Board offered a flat 50 per cent discount for its 30 associations.

The real reason for the BCCI’s ‘magnanimity’ was that it wanted to clean one of the floors of the ‘Cricket Centre’ of the crockery and other stuff so that its proposed museum could be setup. This is the same crockery that was sent to South Africa in 2009 for the IPL and Champions League T20, and returned to India after the tournaments.

However, even the huge discount failed to elicit much interest amongst the affiliated units. With no other option left, the BCCI voluntarily sent the crockery to all its units recently, with each association receiving 50 pieces each of the six different items packed in 28 boxes. But the largesse was not done in a proper manner and instead the Board is now receiving letters from the associations complaining about the broken crockery. 

“The associations have written to us saying that a majority of the crockery pieces was found to be broken as the boxes, they say, were loosely packed,” a Board functionary told Mail Today. With no chance of replacement of the broken Bone China, the issue ends there – with a whimper. 

(This story first appeared in Mail Today)