… Of Indian cricket? That’s the survey that ESPN Star Sports, the channel that broadcasts the Champions League across India, just showed on its coverage. 82% say ‘Yes’. The owner, head person, commissioner, oligarch and basic god of Indian Twenty20 is the saviour of Indian cricket according to everyone but a disruptive 18%.

The Indian journalists in the press box have only just stopped laughing, especially as Modi has a healthy-hand in what gets broadcast when.

Apparently, Ravi Shastri once called him Moses.

The truth is he’s a stellar version of Giles Clarke with much more balls (and money).

Edward Craig is deputy editor of The Wisden Cricketer

It’s a burning day in Delhi, not one for a pasty Brit to be stuck outside for too long. So when the security guard refused my entry, stranding me in the street yards from any shelter, I feared the worst.

The Champions League is a global-domestic tournament – a vast, commercial, colourful enterprise. And the security around the grounds reflects this. Sussex players are not bothering to leave the hotel because it’s too much of a pain getting through all the checks. Try turning up to a game in Delhi without a ticket and you’ll get beaten by policemen with big sticks. Read the rest of this entry »