Upheaval Time for BCCI

And so it has finally happened! ICL paraded 44 cricketers from the Indian domestic scene and made a bold statement of intent to the BCCI and to all their doubters. Most had reckoned that BCCI would slay the beast even before it could stand on its feet. I have long been an advocate about something like the ICL - just not in its present format and definitely not at this time.

However, the fact of the matter is, we live in a capitalist economy, where money is the sole criteria for most of the things that we do. Some editor on cricinfo questioned what would the players play for since they are not playing for a country, state or a club - the answer is quite simple - MONEY. What more do you need? Which domestic cricketer in India makes $75K (approximately Rs. 3.3 M or 33 Lakhs) in one year?

It will be better if the BCCI wakes up to this reality and embraces ICL - BCCI needs the ICL as much as the domestic cricketers do. And it's not only for their money and TV experience. They need ICL's management expertise more than anything else. It will be nothing short of a miracle, and one that is bound to happen, if the ICL manages to conduct a 50 over tournament sometime next year. And it will be tribute to ICL's management team for making it happen, whenever it does. To conceptualize and implement, even something like a Twenty20 tournament, with whatever players the ICL has mustered so far, is something to admire. Of course, some might argue that the tournament is still not underway, lacks the infrastructure and is not able to come up with a schedule. My only point to them would be - talk to Lalu Prasad Yadav. It's a different story that Lalu has vested interests in ICL (his son being one).

Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out that BCCI needs a nudge to professionalize itself. I believe it has long been nudged by various people, but BCCI never yielded to those demands. Of course, if they don't yield now, I am willing to bet that they will no longer be in existence. ICC is supposed to rule on the ICL, and I think I know how that meeting is going to go. It is going to be fractious to say the least. On the one hand, they need BCCI for their financial strength, however on the other, they want to make sure that BCCI is not a monopolistic body and does not have the same negotiating power that it does now. At this point in time, it will be too early to approve ICL, however, given some time I am pretty confident that the ICC will approve the ICL. They won't have a choice.

It is indeed time for some serious upheaval for the BCCI, regardless of whether they mend their ways and professionalize themselves or not. If they do mend their ways and become professional, the possibilities will be endless!