An MLA in Tamil Nadu has demanded that the IPL team Chennai Super Kings should be banned because it does not have any players from the state. SP Venkateshwaran, a Dharmapuri Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) MLA, made the demand while addressing the state legislative assembly on Tuesday.
He argued that the team should be disqualified since it claims to represent Tamil Nadu even though none of its players is from the region. He made the statement during the demands for funding for the Sports and Youth Welfare Department, claiming that he just reflected public sentiment on the issue.
CSK fight breaks out in #TamilNadu; PMK MLA wants ban on Chennai Super Kings over ‘no Tamil players’. @PramodMadhav6 gets us this report.
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“Today, the IPL tournament is very popular among the youth. Even though there are many talented players in Tamil Nadu, Chennai Super Kings doesn’t even have one native player. However, the management earns huge commercial profits by advertising to the people of Tamil Nadu as the ‘Tamil Nadu team.’ The CSK team which doesn’t give prominence to Tamil players should be banned,” he said in the assembly.
“A lot of youngsters are watching IPL with lots of interest. Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu. Our leader Ayya (Dr Ramadoss) has launched a campaign ‘In search of Tamil’ to raise awareness among youth about the importance of protecting the Tamil language,” the PMK leader later stated while talking to the media.
He alleged, “Many people contacted me and said they are hurt that despite keeping Chennai as part of its team name, it does not provide opportunities for our talented native players and should be banned.”
“I just echoed the sentiments of the people in the Assembly today. They are making profits from our people by projecting as if they represent Tamil Nadu but there are no Tamil Nadu players (in the team). I want more people from our state to be part of the team,” he added.
The incumbent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government should offer free tickets to IPL games to MLAs, SP Velumani, a former minister from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), advocated during the same discussion. He noted that his party had done so while in power.
“In the previous regime run by us (AIADMK), we had given up to 400 passes to all the MLAs. But now the DMK government is not providing passes to AIADMK MLAs. This should be considered,” he made an appeal to Udhayanidhi Stalin, chief minister M. K. Stalin’s son and the state minister responsible for developing sports.
Today, CSK hosts Rajasthan Royals at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. It will be a significant moment as Mahendra Singh Dhoni will captain CSK for the 200th time in the IPL, the most by a captain in the T20 league’s history.
