{image-indian premier league_30042008.jpg news.oneindia.in}New Delhi, Apr 30: A senior CPI member in the Lok Sabha today asked the government to find out the source of money spent on the IPL cricket series.

Raising the issue during the zero hour, Mr Gurudas Dasgupta complained that more than Rs 4,000 crore was being spent on IPL cricket in a poor country like India. Expressing the apprehension that the great game of cricket was reduced to ''a game of gamble,'' he asked the government not to allow cricket to lose its nobility. ''Should gambling and betting be allowed on the street,'' Mr Dasgupta said. Referring to the extravaganza in IPL cricket matches, he said ''This is not India's tradition..We are becoming victims of consumerism.'' Mr Dasgupta regretted that cricket had been taken over by industrialists, wine merchants and private airline owners. He also said India was "borrowing ideas from the US" by conducting the 20-20 cricket series. In this context, he also pointed out that cricket players were purchased through bidding as in the case of cattle market.

BCCI President and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was present in the House when the issue was raised by Mr Dasgupta.

UNI