An adage BCCI officials have forgotten
"Never wash your dirty linen in public" seems to be a forgotten adage as far as the officials of the BCCI are concerned
Woorkheri Raman
27-May-2000
"Never wash your dirty linen in public" seems to be a forgotten adage
as far as the officials of the BCCI are concerned. Cricket has always
been held sacrosanct in this country and in recent months a few
individuals can be accused of being blasphemous. It all started off
with Bindra, the former BCCI President, naming Kapil Dev in an
interview on television as the cricketer who "offered" Prabhakar money
to under perform.
What is beyond anyone's comprehension is the motivation beyond his
deeds of late. Going by his own admission, several murky matters were
brought to his notice during his tenure as the BCCI President. Common
sense would suggest that he should have acted then, but that was not
to be. Apart from dragging Kapil Dev into the match fixing
controversy, Bindra started to go after the BCCI officials about
certain irregularities in the functioning of the Board. As a man who
has held the highest post in the apex body of the country, he may be
privy to a few interesting details but there are other ways of
cleaning up the house. Ultimately, his actions and words have only
undermined his own purpose, that of ensuring the superior image of
cricket remain untarnished. Bindra's intentions may be noble but the
way he has gone about things is indicative of a man who has started
something that he can't finish.
The BCCI had to convene a meeting to bring some sense of normality and
also to ensure that all the officials were reminded of their
responsibilities. AC Muthiah, the President, showed that the need of
the hour was to be strong without ducking the issues, however
discomforting they might be. He issued a show cause notice to the PCA
and also to Bindra as to why they can't be expelled. Reportedly he
conducted the meeting like a hard core businessman that he is, which
must have startled some who are accustomed to the usual soft-pedaling.
How one wishes his predecessors had been at least half as strong as
him. If that were to be the case, all the issues currently hogging the
limelight would have never seen daylight.
Even while the CBI investigations are on, many individuals are still
giving statements endlessly which is of no help to anybody. It is
incredible that the image of the game is being shred to pieces as a
result of personal animosity. Come to think of it, the Prabhakar-Dev
episode is about something that supposedly happened some six years
ago. The spill over of this entire sensational episode now would put
the current crop of cricketers under undue suspicion and tremendous
pressure. As it is, the team as such is not going through a purple
patch and this will mess up the mental make-up of the players further.
The rampant confusion seems to have rubbed off on the selection
committee chairman as well. His statements justifying his decisions or
rather his committee's decisions are as cryptic as the crossword in
the Sunday Times. How on earth some players stay back in the side is a
mystery. The case in point is Nikhil Chopra as he has hardly done
anything worthwhile in his last few appearances. The lack of success
can be overlooked if the cricketer in question shows some semblance of
improvement. There has been no apparent improvement, as he has not got
five wicket hauls even in domestic cricket. It is no good having a guy
in the side for the sake of filling up a slot.
The exclusion of Venkatesh Prasad is debatable but at least if the
selectors persist with the younger seamers, then it may prove to be
beneficial in the future. This is where the Indian team is still
struggling with regard to a wicket-keeper. All the keepers stumpers in
the last season or two are in the thirties. My complaint is not
against the age but no young wicket-keeper has been groomed to take
over. The notion of looking for a keeper who can bat a bit has kept
the same players in contention. Keeping wickets is a specialist's job,
even more so in a one-day game as the slips are not employed by and
large after the early overs. The theory of a keeper/lower order
batsmen winning matches does not hold much merit.
Suffice to say that individual likes and dislikes are the dominating
factors in Indian cricket and at times this has stunted the blossoming
of a few young talented cricketers into major forces in international
cricket. Hopefully that won't be the case with Sadagopan Ramesh, as he
seems to be out of favour at the moment. No clear-cut reason has been
given for omitting him other than the suggestion that there is no room
for him with Tendulkar and Ganguly opening the innings. If my memory
serves me right, the same duo opened in the World Cup as well and yet
Ramesh was in the squad.
Emotions dictating the decision making process may be ideal for a
movie plot, but it has no place in cricket where the pride of the
entire nation is at stake.