Like many fellow Desi’s, I have always been appalled by the arbitrary and politically motivated style of picking representatives for the Indian cricket team. State representation has taken precedence over player skills or for that matter the desire to complete the team.
Add a dash of money and a pinch of internal power struggle and you have one of the worst way’s of picking a team. Marcel would do a better job.
Most of you would agree that India has a lot of talent when it comes to cricket. 11 players out of a billion people means a lot of talent, even if discovered never gets appreciated. Do not get me wrong, there do exist first class tournaments like the Ranji Trophey, but the only people watching are the players and the families. When was the last time you had to pay to see a Ranji Trophey game ?
The BCCI being the governing body of cricket in India has not done much to improve the level of cricket domestically. The national team being the cash crop could be the obvious reason, but I have a feeling that it is more than that.
The BCCI’s membership generally includes the State cricket associations, though some states have more than one association. Maharashtra state, for instance, has Maharashtra cricket association, Mumbai Cricket Association and Vidarbha cricket association and Gujarat state has Gujarat cricket association, Baroda cricket association and Saurashtra cricket association. Railways and Services are also members.
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It is India’s richest sporting body and one of the richest sports team or body in the whole world. The BCCI’s constitution provides for annual elections at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for all posts, with a bar on re-election of an incumbent president beyond two consecutive years, “provided that the General Body may in its discretion re-elect the same person as president for the third consecutive year”. The President of BCCI is Sharad Pawar (elected 29 November, 2005). Niranjan Shah is the secretary.
Image from PHL’s website.
Now take the recently formed Premier Hockey League, India was the winner of eight gold medals in Hockey and the game is almost extinct, The PHL is trying to revive the game by doing new things, commercialising the sport. It may not be as comprehensive as the NBA or the NFL, but it is a start. With more television coverage and a practical management, I am sure that the PHL will succeed.
An easier way of doing business would be to adopt the American way of doing things and making the teams privately owned. Some teams are seen as an investment and some are used to avoid taxes (at least I think so). Since the BCCI controls the way cricket is played in India, someone who is already in bed with them needs to get the ball rolling.
With India’s new disposable income, big screen TVs and free time, I can assure you that there is a lot of money to be made and the BCCI needs to watch the PHL and learn a few new things.
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