Yes, you have read the correct. A joke called BCCI. We all know that The Board of Control for Cricket in India is among the richest sports body in the world and the richest in the cricketing world. The resources at their disposal are enormous. Their power is incredible. The clout that they enjoy in the cricketing world is equal to none. They have their own set of commentators who do their bidding. The commentators are not allowed to criticise the board, the selectors or anything related to cricket. The disdain with which the board treat every other board is a testimony to the fact that their power is absolutely complete and that none of the other board can afford to antagonise BCCI.
However, having this much wealth, power and clout is not good for the board or for the game. BCCI is a big failure as a sports body. Despite such wealth and resources, the Indian team is not even close to being the absolute and undisputed world champion. It does not really matter who the board president is, whether it is a complete administrator like Srinivasan or Manohar or a former cricketer like Ganguly, the board has failed the team and the supporters in this country. They have done a great deal of disservice to the nation. Let us completely analyse the functioning of the board over the last 30-40 years.
A brief history about the BCCI
The Board of Control for Cricket in India was formed in December 1928 as a society registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. It has its headquarters in Mumbai. The board does not depend on the Government of India for financial assistance. The board is worth 3730 Crores INR. The board’s arrangement with the ICC, the world’s cricket body, only makes it richer. Under the current revenue-sharing model, BCCI gets close to 3-4% of the surplus earned by ICC.
This may go up as it is likely to get 21-22% of the gross revenue over the next six-eight years. If the ICC earns anything between $2.5 and $3.5 billion, reports say that BCCI may is expected to get $550-770 million over the eight-year period. It recently contributed a measly sum of 51 Crores towards the PM Cares Fund for Corona relief. This is actually slap in the face of every Indian who watch the game.
Board’s president and their term
The first president was Grant Govan in the year 1928. The latest president is Sourav Ganguly whose tenure has just ended. Till date, there has been 35 presidents. The post is an honorary one but it is considered prestigious because of the popularity of the game and the financial clout. The post is rotated among all the zones in India and a person can hold the post of the president for a maximum of three years.
With such clout, with so much funds has the BCCI done justice? Let us further examine.
Best team in the world forever?
India should have been the best team over the last 30 years at the minimum across formats. Are we really the best team even over the last 5 years considering the resources at the board’s disposal?
Following for the game in the country
This is a country where the only sport that is played by the masses is Cricket. It is not only a game but a religion. There simply isn’t any sport in the world that has such a huge following. EPL attracts a huge audience. Bundesliga and Brazil’s La Liga attracts crowds as well. Formula One with its exorbitant ticket rates have their own following. Tennis has its brand of cheer leaders. None, absolutely none of these sports can come close to the fervour that Cricket is to the fans in India. This games fascinates the youngest of the young to the oldest of the old, equally. In every family in the country, atleast one person follows the game religiously.
The length of the game adds to the popularity of the sport because whenever the TV is switched on, some game is played in some part of the world. Children are fascinated by the game that most of the children in the country wants to become the next Kohli, next Rohit, next Tendulkar, next Dravid. It is another story that the children are not that thrilled to follow any bowler. This gives advertisers ample amount of time to advertise their products. In some cases, throughout the day. Who is the ultimate beneficiary of this? It is the BCCI.
An estimate of the following for the game in the country
An article in Business Standard shows the extent to which Cricket viewership has increased in the country. It is increasing by the year so much so that a tour by India is considered among the brightest of the calendar by every cricket board. It can be Australia or England or Zimbabwe. One Indian tour will ensure that their debts are paid. This is because of advertisements which inturn depends on the viewership.
Cricket coaching centres
Cricket coaching centres around the country are mushrooming by the day. The fees charged for each student is certainly high. Cricket coaching is a major business in this country though I will not fault that. It is another way to make a livelihood. Whether the coaches in those centres are upto scratch, that is open for debate. In the city of Bangalore, within a small confine, it is quite possible to find 4-5 coaching centres.
During the weekends, if one takes a tour within the city, it is easy to find the game being played everywhere. Ranging from league games in proper grounds, tournaments for school and college children, tournaments for corporates, tournaments where individual teams can participate to leisure cricket played in the gullies, apartments, on any open ground etc. There are lot of structured and unstructured games played every day, every week, every month and every year.
Numbers game
Easily, 5000 players will be engaged during the week and weekends. This is the case in one small city (relative to the rest of the country). Now just imagine the scene across the entire country of more than 1.25 billion. Such is the passion for the game across the country that easily 100 million will watch the game and follow the scores or the performance of their favourite ones. If I have to take 10% of the 100 million as active followers of the game, that is 10 million. That is a significant number because in most of the cricketing playing nation, the active followers will be much less than that number. If I have to drilldown further for the active participants, that number will easily be around 1 million. This means that there are around 1 million active cricketers in this country.
Mind you, we are talking only about the men. If we have to drilldown further, we will definitely end up with around 100,000 active cricketers. With such high number, it must be possible to find lots and lots of batsmen, bowlers – both spin and genuine pace – excellent wicket keepers among the men. This essentially means that India should have been the best cricket playing nation if not forever, atleast over the last 30 years since the board’s finances grew manifold.
Questions and questions and questions
As things stand, is India really among the top teams in the world? Did each position have atleast one readymade replacement? Did we have world class fast bowlers and world class spinners? The Indian team over the years, did they have world class batsmen? The answer for these questions are NO. Ofcourse, we had Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag & now Kohli. We had a Kumble. However, these players were spread over the last 30 years. We might even say that the current fast bowlers are the best in the world and yet, we lost 2 tests rather meekly in New Zealand. The last series in South Africa and England were lost comprehensively.
Moreover, these players are not because of the board but despite the board. After Gavaskar retired, we had a Tendulkar. Towards half of Tendulkar’s career, we had Dravid & Sehwag and after all of them retired, we have Kohli. Are we to be satisfied with such measly pickings among more than a million? With such resources at their disposal, shouldn’t the Indian team have multiple players with similar abilities of these great cricketers?
More questions
Hasn’t the board failed to produce bench strength in such abundance that the loss of any or all of these players for a few games should never have mattered? Wouldn’t it be possible for the BCCI to be able to find not one not two but more than 250 high quality batsmen, genuine fast bowlers, great swing and seam bowlers, spinners of all variety and wicket keepers if the board had cared about the game rather than their coffers?
This is not just for one format of the game but for all formats. To loss one or even 5 players through injury or some other reason should not be a problem at all. How many Indian bowlers have been ranked at the top for more than a year? There was Kumble for a short period and now we have Bumrah at number two in ODIs. So little for a country with enormous population. The answer for most of these questions will be in the negative.
I do realise that talent is something that one is born with but one can achieve wonders with a little bit of talent but lots of hard work and coached along the way. Dravid is a prime example of such a cricketer. Kumble is another one. When I realise the magnitude of board’s failure, that is when I am certain that whenever India perform well, it is not because of the board but it is because of the passion of the players.
Success of Australia with a lesser pool
Australia which is a multi-sports nation with less active cricketers compared to India, have won 5 World Cups. They were also ranked as the absolute number one in Tests & ODIs for more than 10 years. They are holders of a record 17 consecutive test wins twice. Australia have won a test series and one day series everywhere they have played during their reign as the best team. They were unbeaten in more than 20 World Cup games consecutively stretching over 2.5 World Cups.
Their players changed the way the game is being played. There was a period in which Australia were able to field TWO teams at the international level and both were capable of defeating any other country. Infact, during one of the annual World Series tournament in Australia, they Australian board fielded 2 teams because they felt that the other teams, England & probably Sri Lanka, will not be able to give the Australia main team a tough competition and as a result of that crowds will not come to the stadium to watch the games. To prove them correct, it was these Australian sides that played the final.
When I think about all these achievements of an Australian team I cannot help think that it should have been India with its rich resource pool that should have accomplished these achievements.
The best team in the world forever? Conclusion
The fact is that the board has never cared about the performance of the team and the standing of the team. Neither are they worried about the fans of the team. They are interested only in filling their coffers. With such resources at the disposal of say an Australian or an English or a South African or even a New Zealand board, certainly they would have been the undisputed numero uno for well over 20 years. The Indian team is nowhere even near to be considered as the best team thanks to an inefficient board.
To be continued…………….