G Rajaraman questions Sunil Gavaskar’s role in BCCI Office, and makes a fine point about conflict of interest. Sunil Gavaskar has in the past and even recently used information available to him due to his official position on BCCI committees in his newspaper columns. Yet, he seems to command tremendous respect at BCCI. Gavaskar is not alone. Most of our articulate cricketers – Gavaskar, Shastri, Manjrekar, Arun Lal, Bedi, Sidhu (articulate is the wrong word for him!) and many others make their living in the press, either by television contracts or by writing newspaper columns. The ability to articulate is important, indeed i would say it is a central and non-negotiable requirement for anyone seeking to study and then describe problems and solutions for our cricket. My intention here is not to deride any of our less articulate cricketers, but to point out, that when it comes to developing any system, communication is key – something they are not very good at.
BCCI as an organization, inspite of its enormous financial wealth is beholden to successful ex-India cricketers, because the involvement of these cricketers gives it legitimacy, apart from providing the best available source of cricketing know how in India. Yet, BCCI does not hire these individuals full time, because they can not and ought not to match ESPN and/or any other news organization when it comes to salaries. In today’s age, articulate ex-cricketers are worth their weight in gold, and they know it. A work around therefore is necessary, in order to harness the strengths of our time – plenty of ex-cricketers who have opinions and know how, articulate current cricketers, the internet, enormous amount of public interest and an upcoming BCCI website – to address the weaknesses of our time – lack of apparent initiative, name calling in the press, discussion about cricket being limited to the assignment of praise or blame, and BCCI’s poor public profile.
The best possible launching content for the BCCI website would be a wiki to be developed by the likes of Gavaskar et al. where they address (through columns, notes, questions, researched responses to questions) specific issues – such as the selection of the coach, the future of ranji trophy cricket, BCCI support for local cricket, upkeep of the maidans of Bombay and other cities, coaching, fitness etc. etc. etc. – this will enable communication of the best ideas, on a forum which the public can see – which won’t require wasteful committee meetings which use up a lot of each individuals time and do not allow very effective discussion.
The electoral process, which forms the basis of BCCI, is conducive to deal making, not collaborative work. Committees are instituted so that the resulting solution will be the better than one proposed by any single individual. These committees could work virtually, whats more, the work of the committee could be viewed by by others in a non-intrusive manner. This would enable constructive discussion – far more efficiently than meeting once every 5 months in a 5 star hotel can. What will happen then, is that there will be less scope for the press to speculate, and less blind name calling. Everything would be on the table.
It would also enable the most articulate minds in India to express themselves profitably, without clashing with their other more lucrative commitments. I would in fact go further and enable these individuals as well as members of the national team to write blogs….. but that is for the future…. :). Transcripts of selection committee meetings could be posted online as well.
The BCCI’s problem is putting together information and communicating it effectively. This they can do very effectively by making it visible from the source. I suspect it might be their best hope when it comes to “tackling the media” as well. It might clips the press’s wings, because TV channels might get fewer “scoops”, but good journalism will still thrive. Loaded commentary (my pet hate – that note by Anand Vasu 🙂 ) will be shown up for what it is (if his view is borne out, then that will be revealed as well).
Furthermore, this would be an originally Indian solution to the issue – and thus would be something where the BCCI would be a leader, rather than being a rich follower which it is at the moment. Gavaskar’s main wish, that we ought to do things our way (there is plenty of merit to this position in my view), will have been met.
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