Did Ousted BCCI Officials Meet To Mull A Rebel Cricketing Body?

Is a new national cricket body in the making, replacing the 88-year-old Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)? For a couple of days, there have been murmurs of such a move being underway secretly, having emanated from a get together, which former cricket administrators are calling a “thanks-giving meeting”.

People who met in Bengaluru on Saturday were cricketing ‘friends’, including their former foes within those friends’ group, drawn from the BCCI and its various constituents. The group included former BCCI and ICC chief N. Srinivasan, who has just been disqualified by the Supreme Court as president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), Rajeev Shukla, secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA), and representatives of over 20 of the 31 full members of the BCCI.

However, at the moment the ousted ‘senior citizens’ of Indian cricket are keeping whatever actually transpired at Saturday’s meeting low profile. They are believed to be waiting for a Supreme Court order, through which it will appoint a panel of administrators who will run the BCCI till a new set of elected office-bearers who are agreeable to implementing the Lodha Committee recommendations are installed. This order could come as early as January 19, when eminent advocates Gopal Subramaniam, amicus curie in the 2013 IPL betting-fixing case, and Anil B. Divan would be suggesting names for the panel.

Once the names of the administrators are announced, probably the ousted officials would make their next move behind the scenes. At the moment, though, they are not ready to disclose anything more about the conclave than calling it a “thanks-giving meeting”. It is, however, yet to be ascertained who thanked whom and for what at this meeting.

When asked if discussions on the possibility of forming a parallel/rebel national body had taken place on Saturday, one of the former officials who was present there, straightaway denied anyone spoke on those lines.

“Nothing, nothing. No way, no way. It’s completely untrue. You can talk to anybody who attended that meeting…nobody even uttered a word about it [floating a parallel national body]. And nobody will do it,” the official told Outlook. “We just got together because we are not going to there [in the BCCI/state associations] anymore. It was just a thanks-giving meeting.”

The official claimed that the people who gathered at a five-star hotel have all accepted the Supreme Court verdict, pronouncing, among other things, that all those who have spent a cumulative nine years in cricket administration, be it with the BCCI or its affiliates, could no more administer in their lives.

“We have no choice. The only thing in the order that we can find out [from the court] is the nine-year cumulative period of governance for an official, in state associations as well as the BCCI. It was something that was never there earlier. It was never there in the original order,” he pointed out.

After pronouncing an order on January 2, the next day clarified that instead of nine years each with the BCCI and an affiliate, now an official could be an administrator for a cumulative nine years (including BCCI and its affiliates).

“After the January 3 order, practically everybody is out. Now, how will you get into the Board? None of them will be eligible; they would have completed here [in state associations],” he rued. “We’ll have freshers coming in; there will be no one experienced.”

Regarding the formation of a parallel/rival national body, it is easier said than done. An old timer who till recently was an integral part of a state association said such a move has never been mulled in the BCCI’s 88-year-old tumultuous existence.

“We have had differences among ourselves and there have been groups within the Board, but this kind of talk of forming a parallel BCCI has never happened. They seem to be taking the Supreme Court head on. Once the court has announced its verdict, we should have accepted it, even though we don’t agree with all of what the order says,” one of the outgoing senior officials told Outlook.

For a moment, let us explore, hypothetically though, how the ousted cricket officials could accept the court order and still make them relevant again. Needless to say, it would be a huge risk to take and needs meticulous planning and perfect execution. The jobless administrators drawn from various state bodies will first have to form new state bodies and get those registered with either the registrar of societies or as companies. Then, by coming together they can form a national body.

Their next task would be to convince players to break free from the BCCI and sign contracts with the new state bodies and the apex national body. Players would agree to this only after a lot of convincing and when they are completely satisfied broadly on two counts: Handsome monetary returns and official representation in international tournaments conducted by the ICC.

Finances would probably be biggest challenge for a rebel body. But with so many sports channels ready to pay up for quality content, finances can be arranged. But whoever would take that risk, would also want official ICC recognition to matches/tournaments.

Although current ICC chairman Shashank Manohar is at odds with the ousted cricket administrators, he would be completing his two-year term in May 2018. After that the ‘rebels’ could expect anything from the ICC, provided they do the ground for admission of the new Indian body work before that. Also, they would have to convince the ICC at the same time that BCCI was irrelevant.

This is hypothetical scenario, though. The reality could be starkly different.

Another question would be how the India’s courts of law would view the new body. All in all, this move would be something unprecedented in India, though Zee TV promoter Subhash Chandra toyed with the idea of a rebel tournament – Indian Cricket League – in 2007 before it fizzled out soon, basically for want of recognition by the BCCI and the ICC.

In Australia, there’s the example of Kerry Packer’s ‘World Series Cricket’ of late 1970s. But that too folded up after the Australian cricket board agreed to grant the domestic cricket media rights to the business tycoon after he had lined some of the world’s best players for innovative day-night matches for a few seasons.