Gavaskar, Kapil question recommendations made by Lodha panel

SUNIL GAVASKAR and Kapil Dev, two of the biggestnamesinindiancricket,havecomeout in support of the BCCI and challenged some of the more significant recommendations of the Lodha committee.

Talking on the sidelines of India’s historic 500th Test in Kanpur, the two legends have criticized the ‘one state one vote’ policy and also the restricted tenures of officials in the board as suggested by the Supreme Court appointed committee led by Justice RM Lodha. While Dev, one-time highest wickettaker in Test cricket, has felt that some of the recommendations were ‘too much’, Gavaskar, the first man to cross the 10,000run barrier in Tests, has asked for the BCCI to reflect the setup of a cricket team with a blend of youth and experience.

Accordingtothelodharecommendations, Maharashtra and Gujarat, home to three separatecricketassociationseach,shouldgetasingle vote in the BCCI on a rotational basis.

Butafterinsistingthathe‘couldnotunderstand’ it, Dev felt that the ‘one state one vote’ policy could disturb the long-standing status quo of cricket administration in the country, and not positively at that. “I could not understandthatmaharashtracanhaveonlyonevote. How can a place like Mumbai which has done so much for cricket can vote only after three years?” he said.

Gavaskar on the other hand wasn’t in favour of every state in the country getting a ‘directentry’intothecountry’stop-tierdomestictournamentsjustbyvirtueofbeinginindia, which is one of the other recommendations of thelodhacommitteewhichfeltthatnoteveryone in the country had a fair opportunity play cricket at the highest level. He pointed out examples in England and Australia, where only a fair share of the counties and states respectively play in their premier competitions.

“If you go to England, you will find that not every County plays the English County Championships. Not every state plays in Australia’s first-class championship (Sheffield Shield).therefore,tohaveeverystateplayranji Trophyisgoingtodilutethelevelofcricketand not help us at the international level,” he said.

The former India captain did, however, acknowledge that the chance to play in the Ranji Trophy should rather be merit-based. “What isbeingdoneatthemomentwhereteamsplay juniorlevelisifyoudowellyougetpromoted. Likechhattisgarhdidwellatjuniorlevel,therefore they have been promoted and that is the way to go,” he said.

Gavaskar also sided with his former India teammate’s criticism of the ‘one state one vote’ suggestion stating that it would be ‘hard on the founding members of the board’. The two former captains were also in agreement over the fixed tenures that Lodha and his colleagues, former Justices Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran, had recommended for anyone vying for a post in the BCCI.

Gavaskar, who himself had been given the reinsofthebcciandnamedinterimpresident by the Supreme Court in 2014 to look into IPL matters, questioned the three-year cooling off periodandlistedanumberofissuesthatcould arise from it being implemented. “What is the pinnacle in an administrator’s career? It is becoming the President. You don’t just become the President in three years. You are the President because you serve some terms as vice-president. Once you come to that level, you become President,” he said. “Once you havedonethat,youdon’tcomebackastherepresentative of your association as how are the new ideas going to come? How are contemporary ideas going to come? Once you do that, we should say thank you very much. Let us now have somebody else representing my association.”

Dev insisted that three years wasn’t a long enough period and ‘too quick’ to make a difference. “I think three years for anybody (is harsh),itshouldbeminimumfiveyears.ithink if you appoint national selectors, they come to knowbythattime.minimumfiveyearssounds very good. Three years is too quick,” he said.