MUMBAI: It was in December that Chief Justice (retired) RM Lodha – the architect of the reform plan that was supposed to bring transparency and due process in the functioning of the BCCI – last called out the failure of the Committee of Administrators to do the job it was mandated to do more than two years after it was constituted by the Supreme Court.
Lodha on Monday again called out the Vinod Rai-led CoA, buttressing a view that has been steadily gaining ground over the last year or so. Which is that with each action of his, Rai is only confirming what more and more people have come to realise – that the world’s richest and most powerful cricket board has the wrong man at the helm overseeing its functioning.
Speaking to The Hindu, Lodha was dismissive of the clumsily-drafted and confusing letter that was recently shot off to the International Cricket Council (ICC) in connection with the forthcoming World Cup and other global events conducted by it.
Lodha told The Hindu: “It is a political call, not the domain of the CoA. It is my firm view that sports bodies should not take political calls. It is the job of the government to decide if we should play against a particular nation or not. The CoA is trying to be more pious than the Pope.”
The former Chief Justice warned the game could be headed for trouble. “It is fortunate that the game has not been impacted by whatever is happening in the cricket administration. But the day is not far when a lack of good governance may have a harmful impact on the game,” he noted.
As for the practically useless letter that has been sent, it will be tabled and discussed at the ICC chief executives (CEC) meeting in Dubai on Wednesday.
“The ICC will provide all the details of the security arrangements made for the World Cup. It will be same for all the participating nations and England and Wales Cricket Board have always provided top-notch arrangements,” a senior BCCI official privy to the ICC’s functioning told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“But since there has been an apprehension, the doubts will be cleared,” the official added.
As for the call to boycott Pakistan, which was also on BCCI’s “wish list” in the letter, it is unlikely to even be discussed. A fact that Rai would have been aware of but still went ahead with in was clearly a political play rather than an administrative one.
As the the official, who has been a part of many ICC meetings, told PTI: “The ICC is in no position to ask any cricket board to sever ties with another member nation. It doesn’t have the right to do so. This is a diplomatic issue which is dealt with at the government level.
“A member board can always discuss the issue if they want but one can be rest assured that nothing will happen.”
