Gulu’s Googlies: BCCI – The Board of Control ?
By Gulu Ezekiel
Gulu's Googlies
The BCCI is staffed and stuffed with politicians and business tycoons who know the price of everything but the value of nothing. How else can you explain away the fiascos and bungling that has for decades bedeviled the world’s richest cricket association?
It is the tyranny of numbers—in this case, India’s massive population and those of NRIs and PIOs around the world—more than anything that has propelled the BCCI to where it stands today, a sporting body that appears to have too much money for its own good and no idea of how to spend it wisely or well. These numbers ensure that whenever the national team travels outside of Asia, there will be a substantial number of Indians fans among the spectators and huge TV viewership too. It is this bottomless fan base that allows the Board to take the fans for granted and for a ride. Whether inside the stadium, where the spectator comforts are next to non-existent to the TV coverage with its constantly obtrusive advertisements, the Indian fan is the most exploited in the world. Security at venues across India is both obnoxious and unprofessional and getting in is only the start of a spectator’s woes. Most stadiums in India are uncovered except for the VIP and press areas. So the average fan is left to bake under the midday sun and freeze when the icy winds hit him. The less said about the food and rest room facilities the better. Suffice to say, the whole sorry scenario is akin to animals herded into a holding pen.
When things go wrong of course, everyone runs for cover and the finger pointing and buck passing reaches abysmal depths. The shocking pitch conditions at the Capital’s Ferozshah Kotla was the perfect storm brewing on the horizon and just waiting to break. While the BCCI flexes its financial muscle power and goes about arm-twisting the rest of the cricket world, it is incapable of providing basic cricketing conditions at two of its prime venues. How the Cricket Association of Bengal has been unable to solve the problem of the lights going out at the Eden Gardens even 18 months after the disaster of last year’s IPL is hard to understand. And it takes a public appeal from captain MS Dhoni for the authorities to understand the crying need for a new bowling coach.
Meanwhile, barely a week after the end of the ODI series against Sri Lanka, the Indian team is now in Bangladesh for a meaningless tri-series also involving the Lankans, followed by two Test matches. The irony is the team itself continues to go from strength to strength. No thanks to our Board bozos though!
[...] Gulu has hurled his first Googly today – the target is the BCCI. Check it out here. [...]
Fair points all.. And while making them, the author conveniently forgets that Mohali , Nagpur and Nerul are amongst the finest stadiums in the world. And that the Wankhede is being rebuilt in time for the World Cup. Or that the Brabourne provides some of the best cricketing ambience in the world.
As regards security, I thought that the security aspects have always been delegated to the local police ( for which the BCCI pays a fee). But hey, why let that little fact get in the way of a good rant.
And as far as the money is concerned, it takes some skill to find avenues to generate it too.. I mean, the ECB sat on the T20 pot for the better part of 5 years and did nothing about it. It took the BCCI less that 6 months to make it the biggest cricketing spectacle the world has seen.
And for all its faults, Ranji cricketers are better paid now than ever before, ex cricketers are on pension plans, the BCCI is supporting sports outside of cricket..
Funny funny article, this!
Cheers,
Homer, your comments have amazed me…to say the least.
1. In spite of all my love for India and things Indian, comparing even these best of Indian cricket grounds to a SCG or a Lord’s or a Newlands would be stretching things more than a bit…
2. By the way, did you notice that of the 4 stadiums you mentioned 3 are in Mumbai?
3. Have you ever attended a match at Feroz Shah Kotla or Motera or Faridabad or Kanpur?
4. The ICL was launched before the IPL, just in case you were not aware! And no, it was not launched by the BCCI. The IPL was no genius of the BCCI, just that they were in a position of power which they suitably exploited.
Anythingbutjazz,
1. India has 41 stadiums that have hosted international cricket. And while I agree for the most part that conditions arent the best in most of the 41 venues, juxtapose it against the fact that the newer structures coming up, like Rajkot and Uppal have much better infrastructure that what the author claims.
2. Also, the author does not nuance his argument to isolate those stadiums that are abysmal and those that are not. So why should I ?
3. Twenty20 was launched in England in 2003.Nobody held their hand and said that they could not make it a global event. And how is the ICL even relevant here.. the ICL is nothing in terms of either scope or reach of the IPL. And while you may ignore it, it does take something special to get an event of that magnitude off the ground in under six months… And it takes something monumental to move the same event to another country and host it under 3 weeks.
I have no issues with being critical of the BCCI.. But let us not forget that it is an organization. And like every organization, there is always scope for improvement.
No organization is perfect.. And it takes a special kind of skill to highlight every wrong within the organization without recounting any right.
Cheers,
I am not the author, so there are aspects I won’t be able to comment on. Let me talk to Gulu – it would be more interesting if he responds.
Homer, it’s no one’s case that the IPL has not been a mega success. Who am I to deny that millions thronged the grounds to watch the IPl matches – even I did. I went for a match at the Kotla – I believe it had been recently renovated. I don’t think I need to tell you that it’s a hideous monstrosity, getting in is more than a little difficult, the seats are pathetic, the food and beverages were sub par – I can well imagine what it must be like in Kanpur or Guwahati or Baroda…. when you have been the world’s richest cricket board for years now, isn’t all this inexplicable – the BCCI is corrupt as hell, even if they have done a few things right, that cannot hide their many wrongs.
Also, the tyranny of numbers argument Mr Ezekiel makes is equally applicable to other sports too. Lest it be forgotten Hockey, and not Cricket, is our national sport.
And Hockey is funded by the Government of India and is thus privy to its resources. Unlike the BCCI.
And yet, it is Cricket and not Hockey that rules the roost in India. And it is Cricket, and not Hockey, that politicians and Business Tycoons clamor for.
Given this, someone somewhere must have done something right for the BCCI to be the money making, power attracting, all consuming body it is.
Cheers,
Anythingbutjazz,
The Kotla was renovated, not torn down and built from scratch. The Wankhede is.. And I am pretty sure Chepauk is. Either that or they are building an alternate stadium in Chennai.
And let us step back for a minute from this “world’s richest cricket board” argument for a minute.. What does that man exactly?If Board a makes Rs 10 and Board B makes Rs 11, it still translates to being the “world’s richest cricket board”.
It is only in the last 4 years that the BCCI has really begun exploiting its money making avenues. And within that span, we are already seeing the trickle down effect.
Also, member Cricket Associations are responsible for maintaining and upkeep of the grounds. Or in the case of Kanpur, the UP government. The BCCI handed each of the member associations an additional 25 crores last year based on the profits it made.. How those funds are used is upto the associations themselves.
If the Kotla is a terrible venue to play and watch cricket, why isnt anyone holding Mr Arun Jaitley’s feet to the flame?
Cheers,
Homer, what’s the point?
At what point will the buck stop getting passed? Remember the erstwhile “Pitches and Grounds Committee” – that was a BCCI venture, wasn’t it?
If the DDCA is an incompetent body and you and I know it, surely the BCCI too must be aware. What is stopping the BCCI from cancelling the affiliation?
No one is saying that Mr Jaitley is not responsible but that doesn’t absolve the BCCI of its sins.
Anythingbutjazz,
Then he who hasnt sinned should cast the first stone.
Nobody is passing the buck here.. But surely there is a case for a more reasoned and tempered argument than just vitriol.
For starters, this opening para
“The BCCI is staffed and stuffed with politicians and business tycoons who know the price of everything but the value of nothing. How else can you explain away the fiascos and bungling that has for decades bedeviled the world’s richest cricket association?”
If the BCCI is stuffed with “politicians and business tycoons who know the price of everything but the value of nothing.” then how did they reach their positions of eminence in the first place?
Then “How else can you explain away the fiascos and bungling that has for decades bedeviled the world’s richest cricket association” – the world’s richest cricketing association was not always thus. That it became the world’s richest cricket association is a credit to the organization. Also, fiascos and bunglings are solely the BCCI’s domain? And “for decades”? Isnt it to the BCCI’s credit that despite the “decades long fiascos and bunglings”, it is still come out as the richest board in cricket.
Of the many publications that the author has worked with, how many have shut shop? That obviously has nothing to do with “fiasco” and “bungling”..
And pray name one organization that is insulated from “fiascos” and bunglings”, let alone “decades long..”
And if the author is seriously looking for an explanation, it is hardly reflected in the rest of the article.
More a case simple name calling than a serious study of the BCCI as an organization..
But to each his own..
Cheers,
“Of the many publications that the author has worked with, how many have shut shop?” – Homer, that was surely uncalled for – and very ungentlemanly.
There are many a great publications that failed to succeed commercially and had to shut shop. Does that mean that they were not respectable or good? In fact, Cricinfo shut down its monthly magazine not too long back in history. The Indian Express may be struggling commercially and the Hindu may not be as big as the Times of India, but the biggest commercial successes are not always the finest, are they?
Anythingbutjazz,
My point is not to demean or diminish the author. My point is that the author, more than others, will be cognizant of the fact that organizations bungle. All the time. Some bunglings lead to financial ruin, others to cases of mismanagement.
Does commercial success translate to respectable or good – depends on how you define respectable or good.
And you can be good, respectable and a commercial success – the three qualities are not mutually exclusive.
Cheers,
[...] I wrote in my first column last week, the abysmal condition of our stadiums is a major factor in keeping fans away from attending five [...]
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