IPL: Hit for a six!

New Delhi: Narrowly averting a major commotion in the Parliament by seeking the resignation of minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor a day in advance, the government clearly shifted gears today on the Indian Premier League (IPL) scandal currently rocking the nation and made its aggressive intent clear when finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said Monday a thorough probe had been ordered on the source and uses of funds by IPL franchisees.

"I can assure you that all aspects of IPL will be probed, inclusive of the sources of funding, how the funds were routed and invested," Mukhererjee told the Lok Sabha Monday.

"I can assure the honourable members that no guilty or wrongdoer will be spared," he said.

Meanwhile, an official communiqué from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said that president Pratibha Patil had accepted the resignation of Shashi Tharoor.

With voices in the Parliament growing louder seeking a probe into the funding sources of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament if not an outright ban on the tournament altogether, signs of a desperate fire-fighting exercise by the embattled Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are becoming evident.

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