The decision of the Lodha committee to suspend Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the next two seasons and to ban Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra for life from participating in anything related to cricket has been a well directed bouncer that has hit the BCCI right on its head. Had any wise men ever reminded the BCCI of the famous adage ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ during the IPL spot fixing scandal, a lot of embarrassment could have been avoided. But when the establishment itself becomes part of the problem, there cannot be a lot of valid options left for it to take.
The moment BCCI allowed its President to own an IPL team it invited trouble. Anyone with a little common sense would know that it is a matter of serious conflict of interest. But the then President N. Srinivasan was adamant and always tried to brazen it out whenever it was pointed out to him. His son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, for all discerning eyes, was the real authority of Chennai Super Kings and was always seen with the team, even on the ground. But when the allegations of match fixing came to light and aspersions were cast on Meiyappan, CSK claimed that he has nothing to do with the team and he was only an enthusiast. The CSK owners even made India and CSK Captain MS Dhoni to make the same claim. Now that the Lodha Committee has found Meiyappan to be involved in betting, his father-in-law’s position as Chairman of ICC has become highly untenable. The logic behind such a position is simple – N Srinivasan is the owner of India Cements that owns CSK. His son-in-law, who for all practical purposes was the owner of the team or was assigned the role of ‘Team Principal’, was found involved in betting, which by extension puts the owner of the India Cements under the scanner too. In view of the Lodha committee decision BCCI has to take action against the teams and if one of those teams is owned by the Chairman of ICC, how can BCCI take disciplinary action against it?
During the initial phases of IPL, while the discussions on the structure and compostion of the IPL format were going on, some laws in BCCI rule book were twisted to allow the President of BCCI to own an IPL team. There were no questions asked and a group of people did this as they wished. It was highly improper for the BCCI President to own an IPL when it was the prerogative of the BCCI to make and amend rules for IPL, when it has the sole responsibility of running the show. Now that the Lodha committee has come down heavily on Srinivasan’s CSK, he is trying to distance himself and the team from Meiyappan, thereby paving a way to retain his ownership on the team when it will get back to the IPL fray after the two year suspension period. Such an act of impropriety must be stopped or else IPL and BCCI run the risk of bringing further disrepute to the game.
Opinion pieces in newspapers and blogs and discussions in social media and visual media will keep on explaining how much important it is for N Srinivasan to step down from the Chairmanship of ICC. But those who know about how the BCCI works will expect nothing forthcoming from the organisation. Here is an organisation that is accountable to none, answerable to none, an organisation that works based on the whims and fancies of the governing council, a body filled mainly with self-serving politicians and some self-obsessed businessmen, who have no particular love for the game of cricket, but only a keen mind to identify opportunities to make profit. What credibility and accountability can we expect from such an organisation?
One of the biggest anomalies in the administration of cricket in India is the existence of politicians and businessmen in the BCCI, who hold sweeping powers to control and influence the game in India. It defies common sense when we see fewer cricketers in the various committees of BCCI but many politicians of different hues in them. It is one place in India where politicians of different ideologies come together and share a great rapport. At present we have BJP’s Anurag Thakur as the Secretary of BCCI and Congressman Rajiv Shukla as the IPL Chairman. It is high time for the BCCI to bring in reforms in their bylaws to include more cricketers in the committees. Cricketers are in the knowhow of what is required for the advancement of the game. They would know more about the requirements of budding cricketers. They know the technical details of the game, about who the coaches should be, what type of pitches are needed for the new generation of cricketers to sharpen their skills and what all things are required to keep the current players fit and healthy. It is a poor argument that cricketers would not be good administrators. There are umpteen numbers of examples to prove that argument wrong. Professional sports bodies around the world had and many still have players as able administrators managing the affairs efficiently.
If one tries to find out the reason why India never sends its cricket team for Asian Games one will find that the Indian government has no say as far as the commitments of the Indian cricket teams are concerned. BCCI is the sole representative body of Indian cricket and it is an autonomous body that has no relation with the Government of India. It is a shame that cricket, the greatest national unifier, is not owned by the government or the people of India, but some independent body called BCCI that elects its members from among members of its own regional cohorts.
Contrary to the opinion that many detractors of IPL hold about it, this writer believes that IPL is inherently a good initiative for the budding cricketers of the country. By way of IPL matches, youngsters of our country are getting an avenue to rub shoulders with the best in the world - to compete with the best and to gain valuable inputs from the best. While trying to rectify the flaws in IPL, we must guard against throwing out the baby with the bathwater. BCCI must change and come clean, trouble makers must be jettisoned and people with love for the game must be given a chance to bring back the reputation of the game that it lost due to the fraudulent exploits of some unscrupulous forces.
Image Courtesy: The Hindu
No comments:
Post a Comment