Sports
Post resignation, Guha lashes out at players, BCCI and CoA
After submitting his resignation from the four member Committee of Administrators (CoA) of BCCI yesterday, noted historian and writer Ramchandra Guha has written a hard hitting letter to the CoA chief Vinod Rai. Guha has expressed his disappointment on how BCCI has been mismanaging its operations. Let us have a look at all the points Guha has referred to in this letter.
Guha feels Dhoni's 'A' contract is not fair
One of the major points that Ramchandra Guha highlighted in this letter was the unfairness in Mahendra Singh Dhoni getting a list 'A' contract even after he retired from tests. Guha said that such a distorted system of BCCI would send a wrong signal to other players. As per the letter, Guha had pointed out the same thing several times in his earlier mails.
Appointment of Gavaskar as head of player management program
Guha mentioned that Indian cricket board is down with the superstar syndrome. He pointed out the conflict of interest in former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar's appointment as the head of Indian player management system and him being a part of BCCI's TV commentary panel. Guha said that the BCCI is very much in awe of the superstars and fails to question them.
Main job National coach, side job IPL coach
Guha wrote that BCCI allowed former cricketer-turned-coaches to draft their own contracts so that they could work with the IPL teams. However, such contracts have many loopholes which should be addressed. He hinted at Rahul Dravid's contract, saying, "One cannot have dual loyalties of this kind and do proper justice to both. National duty must take precedence over club affiliation."
Guha's dig at Ganguly
In his letter, Guha said that the epidemic of conflict of interest is widespread in the state associations as well; a former cricketer (Sourav Ganguly) is head of a state association and also has a contract with some media houses to comment on player's performance.
Negligence to domestic cricket
An important point which Guha raised was about BCCI and CoA's negligence towards domestic cricket in India. He said, "We need a robust inter-state competition and therefore must seek to compensate domestic players better." Currently the salary of a Ranji Trophy player is about Rs 30,000 for each day of play, a huge difference when compared with the national player's salary.
Indifference towards disqualified members of BCCI
Ramchandra Guha was not so pleased on how CoA stayed silent and indifferent after several disqualified members attended BCCI's meetings even after Supreme Court's order. Guha said that CoA failed to bring this matter in notice of the apex court.
BCCI's failure to handle the coach issue
Guha hit out at BCCI for conducting interviews for the post of Indian coach even after an excellent record of India under Anil Kumble. He said that the issue should have been handled soon after Australia series and there was no need to wait till end of IPL. He added that the matter was poorly handled by BCCI CEO and CoA.
Guha bats for former pacer Javagal Srinath
Guha said that a former cricketer should be a part of the Committee of Administrators and has reportedly put forward the name of former cricketer and secretary of Karnataka Cricket Association Javagal Srinath. Guha said that inclusion of a cricketer in the committee would give more perspective as well as experience which the other non-cricketing members lack.
