Cricket comes to Brabourne, with politics attached
The fourth One Day International between India and the West Indies (the series starts this Sunday) is to be played at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai’s original hub for cricket, on the 29th of this month. But this depends on whether a legal wrangle involving the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the BCCI acting under instruction from the Supreme Court (Sc)-appointed Committee Of Administrators (COA), is sorted out in time.
I’ve written often about my memories of watching matches at this ground in these columns, and the regret that the Cricket Club of India (CCI) (home to Brabourne) was no longer a first-choice venue for international cricket despite its magnificent legacy. For the record, the last international fixture here was the Test against Sri Lanka in 2009, when the Wankhede Stadium was under repair. Almost a decade has passed since, so international cricket returning to Brabourne should be a source of delight. However, developments that got Brabourne the match against the West Indies are unsavoury, reflecting the continuing tug-of-war between state cricket authorities (in this case, MCA), and the BCCI acting under the instruction of the Sc-appointed COA. Originally, the match against the West Indies was to be played at the Wankhede Stadium. The MCA had to comply with several conditions for this, including a ‘hosting agreement’, which could not be delivered. As a result, the BCCI had the match shifted to the CCI. The MCA claims that it could not provide the ‘hosting agreement’ as it did not have any administrator currently in charge. The two retired high court (HC) judges who had taken control of the MCA after it had ostensibly agreed to implement the Justice Lodha doctrine backed off after a while in the face of allegations against them. The collateral damage of the match being shifted to the CCI is that the India women’s team, which was to have a camp at the Wankhede in preparation for the T20 World Cup next month, was disallowed from doing this. This camp too was shifted to the CCI, but an invaluable day was lost. Meanwhile, the MCA went to HC asking for a stay on the sale of tickets for the match against the West Indies at CCI, which earned the ire of Justice Gavai who asked the MCA to petition the Supreme Court if it wished.
The BCCI and CCI have to submit their response by October 24.
What has been playing out is the power-play between the old guard in the BCCI, which has stood stodgily by it its objections, and the COA, which has been ineffective in implementing the Lodha recommendations even though it is way beyond the deadline set for them.
There are pros and cons to this tug-of-war, making it a right royal rigmarole with no end in sight as the Supreme Court too has not found time to review the progress made by the COA or otherwise.
It’s a miracle that cricket in India thrives despite the vacuum in authority. I’d say it is the broadcasters, sponsors and most importantly diehard fans of the sport in the country who have kept it alive despite these issues.
A MUMBAIITE’S TRAFFIC WOES
Am I the only one who feels that traffic snarls in certain areas in the city have increased in the past few weeks?
The other day, I got stuck in a massive jam going from Lower Parel (opposite Phoenix) to Agripada, the 2-km distance taking the better part of an hour. But it was a great learning experience to watch people in their cars coping with this delay.
Some were raving and ranting, many had settled down to work on their laptops, a few were watching films on their mobiles, and one man, who could have been a devotee of Baba Ramdev, was doing kapalbhati in the co-driver’s seat. I swear!
On instructions of my driver-cum-man Friday, who knows everything about everything, I downloaded a scrabble game on the mobile to while away time and got down to match my prowess with the CPU.
The first game itself was a tight affair, but one seven-letter word clinched it for me as well as capturing the situation perfectly: HAPLESS.