It’s all about the money for cricket’s apex managing body.
BCCI’s refusal to send a team to participate in the Guangzhou Asian games this November is an opportunity which must not be wasted. The board’s contention is that it cannot send either the men’s or the women’s team to the games because of prior commitments. But its itinerary changes all the time. The short series against South Africa soon after India became number one in Tests was inserted with remarkable alacrity. The entire Indian Premier League, which takes up about 50 days, was smoothly eased into an already crowded schedule.
It was known as early as May last year that cricket, in its Twenty20 avatar, would make its debut at the November 12-27 Asian Games this year. It is difficult to imagine that New Zealand’s visit in November is so cast in stone that India has to turn a blind eye to genuine medal prospects. If proof was needed that BCCI cared for nothing but money, here it is.
But that is no news. There is little to be achieved by waving the national flag in the face of an organisation which said in court that it was a private club and the players did not really represent the country, just so it would be spared public scrutiny.
Now is not the time to wave the flag; now is the time for the government to step in and send its own team to Guangzhou. The sports ministry can appoint a selection committee. Players, even if contracted with BCCI, can put up their hands and say they cannot defy the government.
There would be no stigma like there was — unfortunately — in playing for Subhash Chandra’s Indian Cricket League.
However, it may be a better idea to choose a team which does not have any player who is part of BCCI’s Twenty20 team. If you let your mind wander a bit, this looks like a fascinating prospect.
After Sachin Tendulkar’s showing at this year’s IPL, there were fervent calls to include him in the team for the Twenty20 World Cup. The man stuck to his stand that he was not playing Twenty20. He would certainly give in if the government called upon him. He can open with Sourav Ganguly, whose late surge in IPL nearly revived Kolkata Knight Riders. Dravid, who is among the most underrated limited-overs batsmen, comes at one down.
Anil Kumble, who continues to hold his own in the IPL despite not playing the rest of the year, provides sheen to the attack. Ganguly can go back to captaining the team. If the Big Four form the core, there is enough talent to constitute the rest of the team: Manish Pandey, Naman Ojha, Pragyan Ojha, T L Suman, Badrinath, Shikhar Dhawan, Saurabh Tiwary, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, R P Singh, etc.
These are names that Umpire’s Post thought of while sitting in a news meeting where subjects very different from sports were being discussed. An able selection panel can do a lot better job of putting BCCI in its place.
