Staff Writer – Archi
It seems not everybody likes the Indian cricket board’s way of functioning. There is no doubt that Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) enjoys some great power mainly due to its ability to generate funds for the game.
Cricket is still not a global sport and survives mostly in the sub-continent where it is still the most popular game.
But in enjoying such power, the BCCI sometimes oversteps its limits and disturbs other boards’ operation.
Former West Indian pacer Michael Holding seems to have an immense dislike for BCCI’s style of functioning.
Holding feels the BCCI wields too much power, which is not good for the game. “I have no sympathy for India,” he had said some time ago, and still holds the same opinion. “They have too much power. I do not believe any country should be able to dictate to the rest of the world,” adds the former pace bowling great.
His grudge perhaps stems from his days as a cricketer when, if you weren’t an English or an Australian, you were just another country trying to pick up the Queen’s game. Today, he feels, it’s the same story if you’re not bowing down to the Indian board’s dictates.
Whether it’s opposing the Decision Review System (DRS), or calling the shots in the International Cricket Council (ICC), Holding’s belief is that the BCCI’s inclination to dictate terms to other member boards at all times is certainly detrimental to the game.
Michael Holding. Photo courtesy tvnewsroom.co.uk
“In the Caribbean we have been fans of Brazilian football for many years. Brazil has dominated many World Cups. But they could never go to FIFA and say ‘this is what we want’. They could never dictate the path of the sport,” Holding insisted.
“Only the organisation that runs the sport should dictate its path. Individual boards are dictating certain things and that’s something I can’t agree with.”
A few weeks ago, former England captain Tony Grieg too held similar views when speaking about the Indian board. “India is pre-occupied with earning money and playing Twenty20 and has sold part of the game to private interests,” he had said.
Holding spoke about a cricket board (West Indies) steeped with infighting, has continuing issues with cricketers and suffers for lack of funds owing to mismanagement among other things. “Politics has always been a big deal in the Caribbean. That won’t change,” he says.
He has little to say about Australian cricket either, that saw its domestic cricket eaten into last season because of the more fancied Big Bash. He also has nothing to say about England, who lost the three-Test series 0-2 to lose their No. 1 ranking to the Protease. The series was initially a four-match affair without ODIs. It was converted into a three-match series to accommodate five ODIs.
But BCCI, in Holding’s opinion, is the villain that stands for all that is wrong. “Kumar Sangakkara recently spoke about how administrators have to come together to bring in the change,” he says, and quotes Nelson Mandela when it comes to inspiring the younger generation. “It is time for the powerful boards to come together.”
