No place for players’ body in BCCI
Second, to represent players about welfare issues, insurance, pensions and general post-career life skills.With this double role, of ally and watchdog, player bodies can offer constructive support and principled opposition. But yes, the focus is largely around players’ commercial interests when negotiating contracts and salaries.
Started as a First World concept in England, player associations are backed by the ICC but India and Bangladesh refuse to play ball. For the BCCI, this is a non-negotiable, sovereignty issue, any suggestion of engaging with a player body is considered sedition. The BCCI’s consistent ‘we are one family’ position was repeated recently when it declared ‘intermediaries’ were not needed to resolve player demands for more money.
Leading Indian players are equally lukewarm towards creating a formal structure to replace the current informal discussion mechanism. All previous attempts (even one that involved Tiger Pataudi, Anil Kumble/ Rahul Dravid and other legends) have failed. Not surprising because top players have a hotline to senior BCCI officials and the clout to have it their way.
For Virat Kohli, or any India captain, any requirement (pay hike, square turner, rest between games, support staff appointBuried ment, new suitcase and chartered flight) is a matter of calling the right number. The system is loaded in favour of star players.
Any player association must factor in two basic truths --- In India, the captain is Rajinikanth incarnate. He is the spokesperson, chief negotiator and selector who picks the team and appoints the team coach. The captain of the Indian cricket team is both king and the state, the ultimate allpowerful high command!
The Indian team itself is the de-facto player association. It functions like a grievance redressal system for an exclusive club whose membership is restricted to top players. One drawback of the present system is it excludes domestic cricketers. They are a vote bank waiting for admission into cricket’s Lok Sabha. Ironically, it is these firstclass players who stand to benefit most from a player association’s welfare measures. Players from humble backgrounds, with limited education and low skills outside cricket, need support to navigate through a professional career and prepare for cricket’s scary afterlife. There is no denying that player associations are a step forward to make cricket governance more inclusive, transparent and accountable.