Had it been not for the enormous passion with which we Indians adore the game of cricket, BCCI would have been an organisation that is observing its 15th odd death anniversary by now. But because we are passionate followers of cricket we mostly only glance over and often easily forget the many audacious misdemeanours of BCCI, bringing the game into disrepute and tarnishing the image of very many great servants of the game.
The recent decision of the BCCI to bring in a two match home series against West Indies by cutting short the South African away series with the intention of having Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th test in Mumbai is an attempt to fill in its coffers by cashing on the Tendulkar mania in the country. By taking such a unilateral decision BCCI has prevented the cricket lovers the joy of watching a mouth watering contest between India and South Africa. Such a decision has also given a chance to the Tendulkar bashers to claim that BCCI has given him an easy opponent on his request to play against in his 200th test. Any observer of the game who has had the privilege of watching the game of Sachin Tendulkar all these years would certainly dismiss it as a ridiculous assumption, but this is enough to tarnish some image of the great man. It is a known fact that the financial power of BCCI, which it uses at its will every time, has been the result of the heightened popularity of the game in India after Sachin Tendulkar almost single-handedly put India as a force to reckon with in world cricket. When BCCI, not to mention Indian cricket, owes so much to the great man, at least it can resist from doing anything that would put blemish on the image of the great man.
Nothing like an Ashes test match, they say; any cricket match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan would be quite exciting as well and there had been some very competitive cricket whenever India and Australia met in test matches. However a long test match series between the top ranked test team South Africa and the top ranked one day team, the defending world champions India, would be equally exhilarating to behold. Many have the opinion that the present team is the strongest ever in the history of Indian cricket. A test series against the Proteas at their home would be a perfect stage for the present Indian team to test their skills and evaluate by themselves how strong or weak they are. How the likes of Dhoni, Dhawan, Pujara, Jadeja and others would fare against the fiery Dale Steyn’s pace, bounce and swing is something the whole cricketing world wants to see. Future generations would judge the present Indian team on the basis of how they play the South Africans at their den.
By curtailing the length of the test series the BCCI has curtailed such a magnificent opportunity for the players as well as the enthusiasts. It is quite obvious that BCCI is not focussed on improving the game in India or the development of the players’ skills, but only on making more money and thereby amassing more wealth and gaining more financial clout in the cricketing world. By unilaterally reneging on the promise made to Cricket South Africa on a longer test series, BCCI has also showed once again to the world what a nauseating bully it is. At home the BCCI bosses work like autocratic rulers preventing any attempt by the government to bring in transparency in its affairs and internationally they act like rogue states, insensitive to the aspirations of other cricketing nations and dismissive of the generally accepted norms of international conduct.
When IPL spot fixing scam was revealed to the world, there were allegations that some of the BCCI officials have also coalesced with the spot fixing agents. There was huge public anger against the BCCI officials and public opinion was hugely in favour of bringing in more transparency and governmental control into the working of BCCI. But as time went on all those protests died down and we got back to where we started. It is imperative that someone takes this responsibility and rein in the BCCI, otherwise its greed and avarice will tarnish the image of the game in India, the same way its recent action has somewhat tarnished the image of the greatest Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar.
We, the citizens in the
Republic of Sachin, strongly and unequivocally condemn BCCI’s decision to curtail the test series between India and South Africa and the resultant dishonour it has brought to the image of Sachin and the image of India as a cricketing nation. When it is about Sachin Tendulkar, Cape Town would be the same as Mumbai and his 200th test match appearance, indeed a historic moment, will be celebrated with the same enthusiasm by his millions of fans, wherever in the world that may happen.
