The Board’s legacy EYE CULTURE
Shashank Manohar’s second stint as president began on October 4, and ushered in the postSrinivasan era for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Mr Manohar’s reputation is considered to be one of the cleanest in the BCCI, and at this juncture ‘clean’ is the choicest plaudit a cricket administrator can hope to have. Mr Manohar comes at a time when the Board led in the interim by its Secretary Anurag Thakur has been making moves towards redemption, and his tenure will be the Boards’ last chance to make amends for decades of complacency, opaqueness, and the Indian Premier League (IPL). Sensing the urgency, he has asked for two months to make systemic changes to how the Board operates. He must judiciously and firmly steer the BCCI towards transparency, and rein in the IPL before the Supreme Court steps in and does it for him and the Board. There are many big brothers watching every move of the Board and of the IPL, and waiting for action or inaction before making their next move.
Mr Manohar has the opportunity to make his tenure count — he has been elected unopposed, so he has the support of the entire Board. He has come at a time when reform is no longer just an option, and with the support of the Supreme Court, for making far-reaching changes to the Board and the IPL, he doesn’t even need to put himself out on a limb or walk the plank over proactive reforms. In the proverbial two birds with one stone, he can smite and cauterise the N Srinivasan era, and rectify one of the biggest failures of the BCCI and IPL by coming down hard on any conflict of interest of any nature in Indian cricket. He could start by fixing the biggest conflict of interest in cricket today — the BCCI owning the IPL. Sooner rather than later, the Board must consider spinning the IPL off, and allowing it to function privately and professionally.
Mr Manohar has already announced some progressive priorities — creating an ombudsman for ethics and governance, cracking down on state cricket associations by holding them accountable for funds received, and putting the BCCI constitutional documents online. This indicates a realisation that platitudes are passé, and that if the Board doesn’t do it, the Court will. Perhaps Mr Manohar and the current Board members do genuinely have the interests of the BCCI and cricket in mind. They certainly ought to be given the benefit of the doubt. If, however, the changes aren’t significant, the crackdown will begin, and not just from the Board’s naysayers. The Board has many challenges to its hegemony, and it has realised that the great wall of secrecy can be breached at will should the judiciary choose to do so.
It may well be the foresight to be proactive rather than reactive to preserve autonomy for the Board, or that transparency and good governance are the only ways to both draw a clear distinction with Mr Srinivasan’s regime, while creating a lasting legacy of change. Two months from now we’ll at least know if there is genuine intent. By that time, the Lodha Committee too would be ready to weigh in with its second round of reforms. March to June will be the most testing period for the Board as it hosts the ICC T20 World Cup and then segues into the riskiest season of the IPL yet. Then on Friday morning came the news that the IPL’s title sponsor is set to withdraw — due to the disrepute the game has been brought into. It’s not the easiest time to lead an embattled Board unless one actually plans to evolve.
There are decisions that the Board itself needs to take in the next couple of months; decisions that the Court will not take for it. For example, the way forward for the two suspended IPL franchises, and the overall treatment of the IPL.
The handling of the IPL and its franchises will determine the Board’s autonomy. If it takes a soft stand on the IPL, then no matter how much Mr Manohar does to bring the BCCI’s matters into the public domain will mostly be forgotten. What a clumsily handled IPL decision will do is ensure that the Court and its committees will intervene in other aspects. Mr Manohar and his team look the part of reformists and for now are best positioned to make changes that bring the BCCI and the IPL into the real world of conformity. Change will come to the Board and to the IPL, whether or not it is initiated by it. After all, the big brothers are watching. And for now, waiting.
The handling of the IPL and its franchises will determine the Board’s autonomy