Richest cricket board, poorest management

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

Indian teams about a few years back could not manage to win Test matches abroad. The solution could have been making them practice on pitches like the one we saw yesterday at the Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi. Jokes apart it was a slap on the face of the Board of Control for Cricket in India or the BCCI when an international match had to be called off unplayable wicket conditions. This was however not the first time BCCI has had to abandon a match, interestingly exactly 12 years ago on Christmas day a match between India and Sri Lanka had to be called off in Indore for the same reason.

How was it that no one in the BCCI's pitches technical committee noticed the danger in forcing an international match on a newly laid pitch. What was in the groundsman's mind when he left live patches of grass in the good length area which were acting as launch pads for the killer deliveries. Was he trying to give the bowlers to feel some ease after the thrashing they have far got in the series. An U-13 cricketer knows that ball shoots up upon landing on grass and stays low on bald patches. How did the groundsman at the ground and pitches technical committee ignore this?

Yesterday's abandoned one day international was another example how the richest cricket board in the world has poorest management skills. The members of the pitch and ground committee of the DDCA resigned taking moral responsibility which is more of a show as the same people will make into the association very soon. Delhi is one of the most important grounds in the country and will host a few World Cup matches in 2011. Are these the kind of pitches we would like international teams to play on during the mega event?

One of the fundamental problems with the BCCI has been it's accountability. Being the richest cricket board due to the crazy fan following seems to be it's only claim to fame. It has become a favourite pastime for the politicians in the country to run the BCCI and all the other state cricket associations. Where are our former players who definitely know cricket more than the Arun Jaitleys and the Sharad Pawars? Why doesn't the BCCI hire professional people to lay pitches across the country, it's cash flow statement would envy many business houses in India?

It is really sad that cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble who have given their heart and soul to Indian cricket will never find their way into the administration because they do not have political lobby. Many might say that administration is a specialised thing and the legends of the game do not have any administrative experience. The question is what experience do the Jaitleys and the Pawars have?