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SPORTS:
CRICKET
Waiting
for the New Ball
To
the CBI, the BCCI has "directly contributed to match-fixing and related
malpractices" by undertaking "frequent tours to controversial
venues like Sharjah, Singapore, Toronto" as well as a "thoughtless
increase in one-day internationals (ODIS)".
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| Indians
were the 1999 World Cup's commercial backers |
The "carnival-like
atmosphere of non-seriousness at these venues" ensures the "players
are more exposed to betting syndicates"; a "surfeit of ODIS
results in lower levels of motivation for players who may get a feeling
that there is nothing wrong in throwing an occasional match". The
CBI seems to vindicate a near-identical assessment of INDIA TODAY ("The
Murky World of Mr Dalmiya", May 15, 2000).
The BCCI's
own financial record-"from a profit of Rs 5.06 lakh in the financial
year 1987-88, the profits soared to Rs 8.37 crore in the financial year
1998-99"-is not above suspicion: "A study of guarantee money
received by BCCI in some of the tournaments shows an interesting trend
which indicated that it is not commensurate with India's standing in the
cricketing world."
Illustrating
how "India has undersold itself", the CBI points out for the
1998 ICC Wills Cup in Bangladesh, the BCCI received Rs 46 lakh as guarantee
money. However, the hosts picked up Rs 35 crore for television rights
for the Indian market. The raw deal recurred at the 1999 World Cup in
England. The BCCI agreed to a guarantee fee of Rs 1.5 crore-and the Indian
TV rights were sold for Rs 26 crore. India paid the piper but the BCCI
refused to call the tune.
The CBI
report is an appetiser; the main course remains unserved. The Rungta clan,
for instance, is not alone in treating a regional cricket body as its
fiefdom. Powerful cricket associations in eastern and southern India have
remained the autocracy of one group or of an individual.
In contrast
to the willingness to name names with regard to Ajay Jadeja and his colleagues,
there is remarkable restraint here. Jagmohan Dalmiya, former president
of the International Cricket Council and the man who oversaw Indian cricket's
destiny in the period the CBI documents, is not even mentioned.
Perhaps
the CBI is holding its fire for a sequel. The agency's Parthian shot must
be worrying BCCI officials-most of whom have made the transition from
the Dalmiya era to the A.C. Muthiah presidency: "This enquiry has
not looked into the matter of grant of television rights since this issue
is being dealt with separately." That report is expected shortly
and will entail a scrutiny of the clues contained in, among other papers,
the Arun Agrawal report on Prasar Bharati's dubious sports telecast deals.
So let's wait for the new ball.
Postscript:
This past week BCCI officials present at the Zimbabwean team's tour opener
in Indore wondered just loudly enough if players had been beaten into
confessions by the CBI. They had arrived at this suspicion because the
results of the CBI report were so very different from those of Justice
Y.V. Chandrachud in 1997!
Remember
the ostrich? It's the best president the BCCI never had.
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With
all the noise about the cabinet resolution on dilution of the government’s
stakes in public sector banks, is anyone buying shares of these banks,
asks V. Shankar Aiyar in 