A day after the Indian cricket Board took the hard decision of shifting the Indian Premier League (IPL) outside India, bitter blame-games seem to have broken out.

Shortly after Union Home Minister P Chidambaram pointed out the Centre’s helplessness over the IPL drama, the West Bengal government was left disappointed since Chidambaram didn’t credit Bengal in the hunt for a quick solution.

The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led West Bengal government was the first of the proposed hosting states to give the thumbs-up to the IPL’s rejigged itinerary and wasted no time in forwarding the go-ahead to the Centre in writing, on March 18.

However, Chidambaram, who launched a scathing attack on those who criticised the Centre over the handling of the IPL, somehow didn’t mention West Bengal while crediting three other state governments for prompt reply over the schedule.

While he lashed out at the BCCI and the BJP for criticising the Centre, Chidambaram picked out the three states of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Karnataka and Union Territory Chandigarh for special praise at a press conference earlier in the day.

Hours after the Home Minister’s comments, West Bengal State Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen expressed disappointment. “It’s wrong if the Union Home Minister missed out on mentioning Bengal (while praising those states that responded to the Centre promptly), as I am told. We were among the first to inform the Centre that we are okay with the new IPL schedule. Our State Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti, last week, had sent across a written go-ahead to the Centre, stating that the West Bengal government has no problems at all with the rejigged dates for the IPL matches at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. So, it’s surprising if West Bengal didn’t get any mention while some other states got it, as I am told,” Ardhendu Sen told mediapersons here.

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