A day after resigning from the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA), Ramachandra Guha explained the reasons behind his move in a letter to the CoA chairman Vinod Rai.
Guha’s missive spread over 2445 words, including passages from his earlier correspondence with the CoA, is an indictment of the manner in which cricket is governed across the country. Excerpts:
Conflict of interest
On the 11th of March, I was told that there was a camp scheduled for young players at the National Cricket Academy but at least one national coach was likely to be away on IPL work and might not attend the camp, I wrote to you: No person under contract with an India team, or with the NCA, should be allowed to moonlight for an IPL team too. I would like an explicit and early assurance from the BCCI management that such manifestly iniquitous loopholes in coaching/support staff contracts will be plugged forthwith.
The BCCI management and office-bearers have, in the absence of explicit directions from the CoA, allowed the status quo to continue.
Superstar culture
The ‘superstar’ culture that afflicts the BCCI means that the more famous the player (former or present) the more leeway he is allowed in violating norms and procedures. (Dhoni was captain of the Indian team while holding a stake in a firm that represented some current India players). This must stop — and only we can stop it.
Yet, despite my warnings, no action has been initiated in the several months that the Committee has been in operation.
As the mail quoted above noted, one reason the conflict of interest issue has lingered unaddressed is that several of the game’s superstars, past and present, have been guilty of it. The BCCI management is too much in awe of these superstars to question their violation of norms and procedures.
Kumble’s dilemma
Clearly, the issue has been handled in an extremely insensitive and unprofessional manner by the BCCI CEO and the BCCI office-bearers, with the CoA, by its silence and inaction, unfortunately being complicit in this regard. In case due process had to be followed since Kumble’s original appointment (as head coach) was only for one year, why was this not done during April and May, when the IPL was on? If indeed the captain and the head coach were not getting along, why was this not attended to as soon as the Australia series was over in late March? Why was it left until the last minute, when a major international tournament was imminent, and when the uncertainty would undermine the morale and ability to focus of the coach, the captain, and the team?
Domestic cricketers and their poor remuneration
The IPL may be Indian cricket’s showpiece, but surely the enormous revenues it generates should be used to make our domestic players more financially secure? There are many more Indian cricketers who make their living via the Ranji Trophy than via the IPL, besides, for us to have a consistently strong Test team (especially overseas) we need a robust inter-State competition, and therefore, must seek to compensate domestic players better.
And yet, shockingly, Ranji match fees have remained at a very low level (a mere ₹30,000 odd for each day of play); moreover, cheques for match fees sent by the BCCI are sometimes not passed on by State associations to the players. We need to learn from best practices in other countries where domestic players are awarded annual contracts like those in the national team.
