Cricket might be the most popular game in the country but it is also the dirtiest. Reports of spot fixing and betting on the inside have ruined the reputation of the 20-20 format and sponsors are pulling out. This sordid story is made worse by the people who were at the helm of affairs. The tenacity with which they held on to their posts, until they were kicked out, is an indicator of the money and power wielded by the top honchos. Now the game is poised for deep rooted change.
The 159-page report of Justice R M Lodha is set to turn administration of the game on its head. The Lodha committee has suggested a slew of changes each aimed at benefiting the game and the fans. The two questions that the judge sought to answer in his report are, ‘what changes are needed to benefit the game?’ and ‘will those changes give the fan what he wants?’
The sweeping changes, if and when implemented, will curb the influence of politicians by barring those who are ministers from holding a post in the BCCI or state associations. Although this might not weed out all politicians, the recommendation that an official can hold a post cumulatively for only nine years, will ensure that politicians and business interests do not get entrenched in the system.
Till date the BCCI has flexed muscle to prevent players from forming a union and speaking with one voice. This is set to change with Justice Lodha recommending that players be allowed to form an association, a norm followed in other cricketing nations but absent here. This move will break the stranglehold the BCCI holds over players and give the latter a greater say in how the game is administered. It will also give players more room to bargain. The players are the sum and total of the game and they deserve to have a louder voice. The inclusion of women in the inner circle, essentially a man’s world, might help women’s cricket.
The one recommendation which will infuse a dose of transparency and keep BCCI officials on their toes is that the apex cricketing body be brought under the purview of the Right to Information Act. This will give the fans, aficionados and critics a handle to ferret out the truth and bare what goes on in the shady corridors of the BCCI. However, this will require an amendment to the act, which might be challenged unless the BCCI agrees, in the interest of the game.
The present dispensation at the BCCI headed by Shashank Manohar has shown the willingness to clean up the stables. In contrast to his predecessor N Srinivasan, who ruled with an iron fist, Manohar seems more interested in the game and less inclined towards creating a fiefdom of his own. This is a good sign for cricket and the manner in which it is administered. But the recommendations made by Justice Lodha go beyond what even Manohar might have imagined. They call for a drastic change.
Desperate times call for desperate measures and the recommendations made by the Lodha committee are a true indication of what needs to be done to clean up the game and rid it of self-seeking politicians and administrators. If similar changes could be made to other sporting organisations, the world of sport would be better off.
