IPL matches should be cancelled: Thackeray

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has said that IPL matches should be cancelled to "save" cricket and their source of the funding be probed.

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has said that IPL matches should be cancelled to "save" cricket and their source of the funding be probed.

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"The undressing of cricket in the ongoing Lalit Modi-Shashi Tharoor row is a matter of concern," Thackeray said in a statement in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' on Wednesday.

All this is going on for money, Thackeray alleged and demanded a probe against all cricketers involved.

The Sena chief also said that he was "sad to see Mumbai Indians losing against KKR after eight to 10 consecutive wins.

"How can the team lose? How can important players remain absent?" he asked.

"It is a given that victory and defeat are a part of the game. However, there is reason to doubt if the game result is not at the behest of bookies," Thackeray said.

"It should be probed from where do industrialists and people like actor Shah Rukh Khan bring in the money to buy IPL teams," he said.

"If the government has an iota of shame, it should immediately cancel IPL matches and save cricket," Thackeray added.