Playing games

Procrastination and opting for the easy way out seems to be the governing dictum for the administrators running the all-too powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The ‘fall in line’ direction given by the Supreme Court has neither gone well with the think-tank nor do they show any enthusiasm to toe the Lodha panel line.

Even though the Board is yet to state its stance, there are indications that the wise men are buying time under one pretext or the other. The latest decision to call for an SGM to prepare a response to the Lodha Committee recommendations is nothing but taking everyone, for a ride. This is even as a March 3 deadline hangs like the Damocles Sword.

Driven to the wall and cornered from all sides, the members must be wary of the court ruling which made it categorically clear that if the BCCI was found wanting or defaulted on one count or the other, it would ask the three-member Lodha panel to implement its recommendations. Cleansing the game and throwing out the last skeletons from the cupboard is the priority and the gentlemen steering the Board must understand the logic behind the proposed reforms and restructuring process. And abide by them.

It is quite possible that the Board may eventually agree to most proposals, barring those that will sound their death-knell. Even the most unpretentious member may not agree to the bar on politicos; bringing the Board under the purview of the RTI Act and, of course, the age restriction. The functioning of the Board has been cloaked in mystery in the sense that no outsider has a feel of what happens in the boardrooms, thanks to the iron curtain.

One wonders for how long the administrators will harp on “we don’t get government aid” tune when the fact of the matter is that they, like the players, are accountable to the nation. Moreover, it is a rather loathsome excuse that they boast of enjoying autonomy. Apparently not having politicians on board will imply that the likes of Sharad Pawar, Anurag Thakur and Rajiv Shukla cannot enjoy the celebratory aura any longer.

Ajit Wadekar has been incredulous in his contention that the game’s progress would be hindered if the government takes control of the proceedings. If that were the case, India would have cut a sorry figure in every other discipline on the global canvas.

Sachin Tendulkar has time and again wished that cricket make its debut in Olympics. This desire has been expressed by many a cricketing legend. Although, it is hypothetical at this point in time, should not the BCCI think-tank take cue and understand that for a body that claims to be beyond the purview of the RTA Act, it will not have the right to field teams for Olympics directly? Each and every stakeholder of the sport, the tax-payer most noticeably, has every right to know about the ‘transparent’ activities of the Board.