AMRIT MATHUR HUR
If state associations were rated on good governance and playerfriendly operations, DDCA would be close to the bottom. DDCA’S low standards are advertised in the Willingdon pavilion itself, whose walls are plastered with photos of greats, arranged haphazardly with names misspelt.
DDCA can’t be accused of competence but this season it reached a new level. The Ranji Trophy is near and players have never been less prepared. With two weeks to go, the team is yet to be picked and the captain is not named.
Delhi had no cricket this summer — the DDCA league was not held and the senior team did not play any pre-season tournament (KSCA, Buchi Babu, Moin-udDaulah) to get match fit. Heading into the domestic season, Delhi is like a student about to sit for an exam without attending classes.
If aggrieved players staged an agitation at Jantar Mantar or Ferozeshah Kotla, they couldn’t be blamed. Delhi has a rich history of players seeking freedom from officials (from Tiger Pataudi and Bishan Bedi to Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir) but now they seem resigned to their fate. It shouldn’t be like this. Players are athletes pursuing their dreams, also professionals struggling to earn a livelihood.
To do this, they deserve a supportive setup; what they get instead is a system literally playing with their careers. It is astonishing that this should happen when DDCA’S representative is ‘acting’ BCCI president and its cricket administered by a distin- guished person known for his passion for sport.
The Lodha Committee came down hard on cricket officials and made strict guidelines about who should hold office. Ministers are out, bureaucrats ineligible and after a while everyone is ‘disqualified’. In days ahead, players will have a bigger role and women awarded more seats on the high table. It is good intent but ultimately what counts is competence and integrity of the individual, not where he comes from.
When certain BCCI officials were removed from their positions, a prominent voice made a sarcastic statement — if courts can run cricket, good luck to them. Subsequent developments suggest he was on the ball. If cricketers in Delhi and Rajasthan are struggling despite a COA and clear court directions, questions will arise about accountability.
There is a solution: An Olympic Task Force (constituted to suggest administrative reforms) made a hard-hitting suggestion. Failure by sports federations to meet ‘obligations’, it said, should attract punitive action, including initiating criminal proceedings. If this bouncer becomes legal, many will end up ducking.