With Kiran More being granted amnesty by the BCCI, the way has been cleared for Kapil Dev’s return too to the official cricket mainstream. Kapil fell out of favour of the board following his association with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2007.
According to a Board official, efforts were made to reach out to Kapil and find a compromise method. Kapil met the Board president N. Srinivasan ahead of the Working Committee meeting here on Monday. Indications were bright of Kapil’s proactive role in cricket administration.
“We have nothing personal against any cricketer. Kapil is an icon and means a lot to Indian cricket,” the official said. More had sought amnesty from the Board but Kapil had steadfastly refused to do so.
“The Board was not in favour of dragging the issue and it would be nice to have Kapil’s services for Indian cricket,” the official added.
Kapil, captain of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, served the Board as chairman of its Ground and Pitches Committee before being appointed as coach of the Indian team in 1999. His tenure as coach, however, was cut short leading to the appointment of John Wright for the job.
The Working Committee approved of most of the recommendations of its technical committee to improve the quality of domestic cricket.
The new format for the Ranji Trophy would involve 27 teams to be divided into three groups of nine each. The knockout stage of the tournament would involve top three teams from group ‘A’ and group ‘B’ and the top two finishers of Group ‘C’.
Each team will host four matches and the venue would need to be identified well in advance. All the home venues would be monitored by a committee formed by the Board with a special emphasis on the pitches. “Curators from the Board would assess the quality of the pitches,” a Board official asserted.
Among the many suggestions expected to liven up the domestic circuit this year was Test legend Anil Kumble’s proposal in limited overs cricket.
One bowler would now be allowed to bowl two extra overs in addition to his quota of 10. The idea is to give the bowler added opportunity to counter the domination of batsmen on placid pitches.
The under-22 championship has been replaced by the ‘A’ teams tournament involving cricketers in the under-25 age group. The first overseas tour for under-25 will be to New Zealand in September this year.
In its efforts to take the game to small centres and also spread its base, the Board has granted recognition to Chhattisgarh to enable it field a team in the Plate group of the under-16 section.
Keywords: Indian Cricket League, BCCI, Kapil Dev
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER TO INDUCE past Cricket giants like Kapil and
Anil Kumble to take charge of Active parts in developing and putting
their ideas to improve the cricket image of India. Kapil can guide on
field activities of Cricketers and Anil Kumble off the field
requirements and Manager of Cricketers and their needs.
It is an excellent move by the board president to reach out to Kapil Dev under whose leadership India's first world cup was won. His services to the Indian cricket are valuable and the younger generation.
It is happy ending to an unpleasant past.
Hats off to Srinivasan, board members and Kapil for burying the hatchet.
The first change has to be made at the top. BCCI President and other officials have at the minimum played Ranji Trophy Cricket to be in the management team. No politicians, bureaucrats, business bandicoots must be allowed to be part of BCCI officials.
It's great to have Kapil back. At the same time, i request BCCI not to make fancy rules like allowing 2 overs extra to one bowler which in my view will spoil the game. It will be demotivating for the other bowlers, then the focuss will be on few players and no equal opportunity as well.
I request Mr.Kapil Dev to not fall for BCCI.
Amnesty for one of the greatest..if not the greatest in the cricketing world ? What a shame that the word 'Amnesty' is even used in this context !
One of the players that I know of...who played for the country. It was a shame that BCCI didn't give the due recognition all these years.
Kapil stood like a LION among the group of cowards who bowed their heads to BCCI.
Indian Cricket IMHO is not longer about CRICKET. It's about 'Money...Money..Money' and GLAMOUR and Legends like Kapil shouldn't fall for it..and probably won't !
Only time will tell !
I am very delighted that the BCCI is going to bring Kapil Dev into mainstream and I wish him best of luck
Kapil paa-ji is a living legend. He is probably the only one who has the capability to inspire young kids minds. There's only one Milkha Singh, one Dhyan Chand, one Kapil Dev. But, these are the kind of role-models that kids aspire for. The Board should work on finding the right role for Kapil paa-ji. While More could be an effective administrators and Kumble an effective manager for developing infrastructure/programs, Kapil paa-ji should possibly be in charge of encouraging young players to develop heart and acumen to win - the X-factor that you would find in a Botham or Imran.
Finally a peice of good news. Now Kapil can take his rightful place in the annals of Indiacn Cricket, blocked by the officials who did not like his free spirit. Thanks to Kapil and ICL today we have the multi-million dollar spinning IPL. When the players were presented with huge cheques during the last IPL, the thankless Board did not honour Kapil. Now they can right the wrong by giving the biggest purse. Kapil proved that 'we can' and gave us the taste of world domination which no other player or captain before hime could. And it took another 20 years to repeat the feat.
Better late than ever. It is a welcome move by BCCI to induct one of the great players of yesteryears into the mainstream. Past is past and both Mr.Kapil DEv and BCCI should look forward and utilise his expertise for the benefit of the game.
Finally, the clash may come to an end. The autocratic attitude of the BCCI and its managers was thoroughly exposed by KAPIL & CO when they launched ICL. The advent of ICL only made the fringe players as equal stakeholders and due importance were given to them. They received full attention of the media and the cricket lovers and many unknown names started becoming household favourites. Then only the BCCI woke up from its comatic slumber and launched IPL. But, then too, the financial irregularities in the first edition that surfaced still linger in the minds of the public. Though Modi went out, there are many more such Modis in the rank and many more skeletons are in the cubboard of the BCCI. Though ICL could not sustain due to varied reasons, it created wonderful opportunities for the fringe players and domestic cricketers. The present success of the IPL is due to the launching of ICL by icons like Kapil and the cricket lovers and local cricketers should owe a lot to ICL because it forced the BCCI to realise its folly and act swiftly.
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