The talk now is about who else is signing up with IPL and even ICL. See some comparative figures. Even an international star can make at best around $60-90,000 per season with a big county club. But an over-the-hill Lara has been signed up by ICL for a million dollars for just one year. McGrath and Warne are apparently being paid $350,000 and $400,000, respectively, for one season by IPL. Here is another interesting factoid: read one of G.S. Vivek’s many brilliant despatches from Australia in this newspaper (January 9, www.indianexpress.com) and he tells you that the Bhajji-Symmonds spat started when Bhajji patted bowler Brett Lee’s bottom in jest while crossing over for a single. But the Australians did not present Lee as a witness against Bhajji. You know why? Because he did not want to risk his many commercial interests in India, from endorsing Timex to cutting discs with Asha Bhonsle.

Let the English press go blue in the face screaming India is using its financial muscle to arm-twist the ICC. If that muscle is a reality, if 70 per cent of all cricketing revenues come from the subcontinent and if India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh now show such solidarity on crucial cricketing issues, the world has to learn to live with this new global order. Gone are the days when one Sunil Manohar Gavaskar could be humiliated by being denied entry at Lord’s and elicit not one line in genuine apology. The capital of a game is where the cash, crowds and the crazies are. (Even the ICC has moved its headquarters from holy London to neutral Dubai.) The ICC and even Cricket Australia know it and, wonder of wonders, now even BCCI has realised it. That is why the Bhajji incident — even though in this case the boot may a little bit be on the other leg — will not go down like the Wessels knock on Kapil’s shin.

... contd.