Fresh challenges stare at Ganguly and BCCI
When Abhinav Bindra said yesterday never counts he articulated a fact of life. For sportspersons, only today matters as they live, breathe and exist in the present. Yesterday is just an entry in the record books, a mere stat. Active sportspersons know what Bindra is talking about. They test themselves each day chasing dreams and an uncertain tomorrow. Their body and mind is programmed for the next day based on the knowledge that pushing the rewind button achieves nothing.
Nobody understands this reality better than cricketers. Their sport is brutal because it is a oneball, next-ball game. Batsmen realise the previous delivery is history, the next could be accompanied by death. That way, every batsman is always on zero.
Sourav Ganguly has endured this stress at the highest level. Toughened by pressure each day in a first-class career of 21 years (and 424 matches for India), he knows what it takes to succeed; 18,000 international runs are proof he cleared all exams with credit. Ganguly also knows a thing or two about leading a team and leadership.
But as he takes fresh guard to open the innings, as BCCI president he will be playing a different ball game. The board room at Cricket Centre, Mumbai is unlike a team dressing room and the new job requires a different kind of match awareness. Ganguly though has quickly assessed the situation. Asked about challenges ahead he said the priority is to restore normalcy after an emergency-like situation.
HARDLY INTERIM
What he left unsaid is the profound relief on turning a corner and closing an innings that should have been declared much earlier. The ‘emergency’ lasted too long and stop-gap administrators who ought to have departed quickly did a Jason Gillespie act as nightwatchman—stayed so long in office they came close to attracting the cooling-off provisions they were tasked to implement. But sport, as Bindra said, must focus on the future. Indian cricket is incredibly cash rich and has a formidable Test team. The Kohli-led batting unit has a core as solid as any in India’s Test history. A team that can bench Ashwin, joint quickest to 350 wickets in Test history, has to be seriously special. And if the fast bowling pack reminds Brian Lara of the
Windies attack of the 80s, can there be a bigger tribute?
Yet, there is work to do. Ranji with 38 teams (one too many) results in matches that are uncompetitive. The domestic season (with 2000-odd games) carries on forever; it starts during monsoon and overlaps with winter fog and rain in north India. The financial arrangement for firstclass players needs to be revisited. Without contracts or any financial security they live on the edge as second-class citizens minus basic rights.
ROLE DEMARCATION There are internal challenges of governance in the new administrative system. The Supreme Court created a delicate balance in governance, divorcing policy from management and giving both clearly separate roles. From now on, cricket matters are in the hands of cricket experts and noncricket matters with professional managers.
The fundamental principle is to be transparent. The new dispensation considers fans stakeholders and encourages them to ask questions and demand answers through the ombudsman and the ethics officer. Accountability is another key element and the presence of the C and AG representative in the apex council will ensure intense scrutiny in financial matters.
Much more significant is past players sitting on the apex council, the high table central to decision making. It might take time for players to call the shots but at least they are at the crease, in the middle of action.
Ganguly has to navigate BCCI through uncharted waters. As India captain, he led his team to famous wins. As BCCI president he will find a way to handle a tricky phase and leave a mark.