The pre-election politics in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is beginning to get intriguing for some and nauseating for others. The old film Mackenna’s Gold comes to mind. The film was based on a book which tells the story of how the pursuit of gold corrupts some ambitious people.
However, unlike the film the BCCI election saga is not an exercise of the imagination. It is not only real but also relevant to the public at large because of the domain it occupies.
It is clear by now, to all observers, that while there may be no gold in this story there is certainly much at stake especially in terms of prestige and wealth. To many who occupied the offices for long, their goals may come at the cost of good governance in the game.
The activity in the BCCI is so hectic that the Cricket Association of Bengal realised that it could not wait for the condolence meeting of Jagmohan Dalmiya to be held, before the new President was elected. If they had waited, may be CAB and the whole of East Zone would have lost some of its bargaining power.
When Dalmiya, a shrewd man, learned of the TRDO system implemented in the KSCA in 2001, he didn’t hesitate to replicate the model at the national level. Dilip Vengsarkar was the chairman of the TRDO, and he was given a free hand to implement his vision.
Sharad Pawar, too, introduced the Cricket Improvement Committee after he was elected President of the Mumbai Cricket Association in 2001. Staying true to his conviction that the sport must be run by former players, he left all cricketing decisions to the committee. He believed that the job of administrators was to support their vision and realise it.
Can this be said of some of the past Presidents who didn’t even bother to raise the standards of their respective teams in BCCI tournaments?
FrustratingIt is this point of separating individual ambition from the larger cricketing interests of the country that sometimes appears to be amiss. To any fan of the game, whether within the system or outside it, this can be frustrating.
More than the case of administrators and fans one cannot forget that the lives and careers of several young cricketers are dependent directly on such elections and the system as a whole.
For those who have spent years, or decades, in these corridors of power, lobbying in the month of September, and then putting cricketing interests in the backseat for the rest of the time, may be business as usual. However, ultimately, all these processes are for the sport, and for young cricketers. They cannot, and should not, be let down.
The association of Delhi and J&K highlight the issues that have been discussed so far. Why can’t Arun Jaitley get groups in the DDCA to resolve the issues? If the BCCI could appoint an ad-hoc committee to run cricket in Rajasthan, surely the same can be done in Delhi and J&K.
Are all the observers to understand that the BCCI is naïve enough to not realise that the Justice Lodha committee is yet to submit its final report to the Supreme Court? With such an important judicial process pending, should not the BCCI act in a manner to inspire more confidence in the legal system, players, and fans?
