BCCI must resist the temptations of a scorched earth policy

By hardening its own position, the Board has led to a hardening of the Supreme Court’s.

The Indian cricket team in recent years has been resilient, unaffected by what happens with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The governing body has painted itself into a corner with the Supreme Court set to decide its fate next week.

But Virat Kohli and his men have been singularly unaffected, winning series in the West Indies, and then completing a 3-0 rout of New Zealand at home. You can see in this an admirable understanding of priorities or a cynical disconnect between those who play on the field and administer the game off it.

Even the recent kerfuffle over the bank accounts probably affected the visiting New Zealanders more than it did the home team.

For one, it was put about that the series might be called off, and that could not have made the visitors feel secure. And for another, the Indian team has the confidence that somehow everything will be sorted out in the end. This has, after all, been the way things have panned out whether the problem was television rights in the early 90s or the drought this year that threatened the IPL.

We are a country that lives in the eleventh hour, wrote R.K. Narayan; it is a philosophy that is in our DNA.

Reprisal of an earlier conflict

Yet, the texture of the latest problem is different. It involves the highest court of the land, and pits it against a young and ambitious ruling party politician, the BCCI president Anurag Thakur. It seems like a reprise of the earlier conflict between the Supreme Court and another president, N. Srinivasan. That led to a change at the top, paving the way for a future that is now beginning to look remarkably like the past. Thakur has ideas and he has the energy, but confrontation was never a good strategy.

None of this has affected the cricket or the domestic season. “Look at the crowds,” Srinivasan exulted a couple of years ago, as the spectators packed the stadiums for the IPL despite knowing about the spot-fixing and insider trading. “Cricket will not lose out.”

Yet now, as the much-defied Supreme Court prepares to hand down its final verdict, there is indication that the BCCI might follow a scorched earth policy. This is an ancient military tactic of destroying everything by a retreating army so it does not fall into the hands of the conquerors. Cricket uses so many military metaphors on field that it should not surprise anyone that military tactics might be used off field too.

First, the BCCI threatened to cut short the New Zealand tour. It has said that thanks to the 15-day break after the IPL suggested by the Lodha Committee, it might have to withdraw from the Champions Trophy next year in England.

No one has said it explicitly, but hints have been dropped that the long home season, just begun (with 13 Tests and thousands of senior and junior level matches) might be brought to an abrupt end citing a variety of reasons.

In a letter to the State associations, Thakur said, “I have listed a few positive impacts (sic) of IPL. However in light of recent comments made against IPL, all members need to collectively decide whether to stop this extravaganza. I leave it to the collective wisdom of the members.”

Collective wisdom tends to follow the money, however.

The subtlety has gone out of the confrontation. The Supreme Court seems determined to rid the BCCI of its office-bearers and the BCCI in turn sees a scorched earth policy as its best response.

Collateral damage

Cricket, unfortunately, will be part of the collateral damage, recipient of the friendly fire, since everybody claims to have the best interests of the game at heart.

The Supreme Court will follow the rule book, having shown remarkable restraint despite the BCCI’s open defiance. Public reaction has been muted because so long as the matches go on and telecasts are unaffected, the average fan is not concerned about administrative subtleties. The BCCI and its officials were never seen as paragons of virtue anyway.

If the BCCI plan is to take the fight to the streets, it will threaten the tournaments, both national and international, and point fingers at the judiciary. It can then play the martyr, especially if it manages to get the International Cricket Council’s support (the BCCI president and secretary fly to Cape Town for an ICC meeting commencing next week).

Not all of the Lodha Committee’s original recommendations are workable. Yet, the broad picture is sound. By hardening its own position, the BCCI has led to a hardening of the Supreme Court’s. Officials now speak of a scorched earth policy without actually using that term. It cannot be good for Indian cricket.

If court-appointed administrators face a non-co-operation movement from elected officials, the saga is set to continue.