Do we dare dream? The new president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India has promised to do in two months what the organisation has been stoutly resisting for eight decades: to introduce transparency and accountability. If Shashank Manohar succeeds, he would have contributed to Indian cricket as much as any of its players!
Manohar’s To-do list is quite revolutionary considering the BCCI’s traditional allergy to reform. His decision to appoint an ombudsman to handle conflict-of-interest cases might see many former Presidents turn in their graves. That is, if they hadn’t rolled over when he decided to both place the BCCI’s balance sheet online and call for financial accountability from the state associations.
Thank the JusticesThe credit for the BCCI’s change in strategy should go to Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha. The former pointed out where the cricket body was corrupt while the latter’s decision to suspend the two IPL teams sent out the message: The Supreme Court is watching; clean your house, or we will clean it for you.
Justice Lodha Committee’s recommendations are expected in a few weeks, and it is both sensible and pragmatic of Manohar to announce where and how the cleaning will begin, and when it is expected to be complete. Justice Mudgal is a natural choice as the BCCI’s first ombudsman.
Manohar will face opposition from the old guard, but in his favour is the fact that he has the ear of the ruling BJP and public support too. Fans are heartily sick of the mess in the BCCI over serious issues papered over by the intransigence of one man and his ego. Former President N. Srinivasan’s policies made millionaires of first class cricketers and even former players, but his stubborn backing of the shenanigans in the IPL even as evidence mounted against his son-in-law’s illegal activities, threw the Board into a spin.
He will probably continue as the ICC Chairman, though, for Manohar doesn’t appear to be a vindictive man, and in any case, there is the international fallout to consider. Withdrawing Srinivasan at this stage (his term ends in June next year) would serve no purpose other than to besmirch the reputation of the BCCI itself. Manohar let slip at his inaugural press conference that some decisions had been arrived at “informally”, so it may not even come up at the Annual General Body meeting.
As important as what Manohar said at the press conference was the acknowledgement that he recognised that problems exist in the Board. Despite his “there is nothing wrong, it is all a matter of perception” tune before he was anointed President, his utterances after he took charge were those of a man willing to admit past mistakes. This is the first step towards correcting them.
Money going missing“The associations are paid huge money by the board and nobody knows what happens to that money,” he said. This is true. Sums upwards of Rs. 40 crore are given to some associations and not much emphasis placed on finding out how these huge amounts are spent. It is part of the Board’s PR to keep everyone happy.
“The board would also be empowered to take action in case it finds that the money which has been given to the state association is not being properly utilised,” he said, and it must come as a shock that such a simple system was not in place before!
It is as dangerous to imagine that the sins of a few lifetimes have been washed away by Manohar’s promises as it is to get cynical and decide that nothing will change in the Board.
Manohar has spoken like no president before, with empathy and determination. Two months is not too short a period; new CEOs and MDs and editors-in-chief know that the best time to make changes is in the first two months. There is something to be said for new brooms.
Be technology-savvyManohar’s advantage is that he is a product of the system he is trying to change, and thus knows where the bodies are hidden, so to speak. His one handicap as president is a refusal to move into the 21st century technology-wise. The decision not to carry a mobile phone or use the e-mail might be loveable quirks in a favourite uncle, but for a man charged with running the richest cricket board in the world, that could spell disaster.
To speak to Manohar, you have to go through his wife; to email him you have to email his wife.
There is much to admire in a simple man with few needs, and by all accounts Shashank Manohar is serious about bringing about the changes he speaks of. No one will begrudge it if the first order of business in the new dispensation is to get the President a new mobile phone. And give him an email id.
