DC Debate: A big issue in world cricket

Rahul Mehra & Anirudh Chaudhry debate over Cricket

Rahul Mehra says - He’s the king of conflict of interest

N  Srinivasan is symptomatic of all the ills plaguing world cricket today. He is the king of conflict of interest, has compromised the very structure of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and even reduced the International Cricket Council to a subservient body of the Indian board. His son-in-law was caught in the betting scandal and members of his own Indian Premier League team are alleged to have been named in the sealed envelopes submitted to the Supreme Court by the probe panel.

If Mr Srinivasan is allowed to take over the reins of international cricket, I have no doubt that within a couple of years world cricket will be infested with fixing. The IPL under Mr Srinivasan’s patronage has become a den of illegal activities. This model will be replicated worldwide.
Mr Srinivasan donning multiple hats is the root cause of the problem. While he is taking decisions on the IPL, one doesn’t know whether he’s doing it as a governing council member, as president BCCI, as the owner of India Cements or the franchisee owner of Chennai Super Kings.

He has been nurturing a conspiracy of silence and I would rate him as a bigger politician than all the other politicians put together. Sharad Pawar is a master strategist, but he has no voice when it comes to Mr Srinivasan. Arun Jaitley is a serial blogger but he can’t even put pen to paper to write on BCCI president. Rajiv Shukla can get anything done in Indian politics, but he is silent when it comes to Mr Srinivasan. And the biggest of them all is Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. He is from Gujarat Cricket Association and was part of the governing council. If the so-called tallest leaders in Indian politics can’t tame the unleashed horse that is Mr Srinivasan, who can? It’s not difficult to understand why no one is speaking against him — they all have skeletons in their closets, and the moment they speak, the skeletons will come tumbling out.

Mr Srinivasan thinks he is above the law and seems to have no ethics, morality or conscience. So waiting for him to walk away on moral grounds is futile. It’ll never happen. The only way such people can be dealt with is by the rule of law. But I don’t know why the honourable Supreme Court is taking so long. The top court has asked him to not be in a position of power, but he has many ways to be the de facto head that controls Indian cricket.

Sunil Gavaskar has been nothing but a mouthpiece of Mr Srinivasan over the last four years. So placing him at the helm is not a corrective measure. ICC members will not stop Mr Srinivasan because all of them are looking at money. The BCCI is the biggest source of money for them.

The cartel and crony capitalism within BCCI is now going to take control of ICC, reducing it to a shadow of a corrupted Indian board. Unfortu-nately, the game and the players will be the losers. My expectations are zero after the apex court backtracked. I had hoped that the SC would suspend IPL for a year or till the time free and fair court-monitored investigation is completed.

Anirudh Chaudhry says - He is BCCI’s unanimous choice

We have had a lot of eminent people who have headed the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the past. On comparing the last cycle to the present, one must give due credit to N. Srinivasan for his hard work and the initiatives he has undertaken for the betterment of Indian cricket. It is Mr Srinivasan who has taken India to a position of leadership in the board of International Cricket Council. In the current scenario, 70 per cent of the revenue generated by the ICC from the media rights is distributed evenly to 10 countries. After the proposal made by him on behalf of the BCCI at the ICC meet earlier this year, the board is set to get a profit share of 21 per cent, which is a phenomenal achievement. The proposal not only benefits India but it boosts the profit ratio of all the other cricketing nations.

Who are all the beneficiary parties as a result of this potential revenue rise in India? 1) Some portion of the profit percentage would percolate to the improvement of cricket at the grass roots level in the country; 2) The number of Ranji Trophy cricketers at the moment is approximately 600-700. They are being paid a sum of '8-'10 lakh per annum. This is the benchmark set in the country for sportspersons. However, there is a prospect of an increase in the pay package for all of them; 3) Venues that are not traditionally known for cricket lack proper infrastructure and stadiums. Those concerns would be put to rest as a result of the increase in the profit margin for the board. Even top cricketing centres would get necessary support to improve their infrastructure facilities.

Having mentioned the sectors that are likely to reap the benefits from the board, it’s time to justify why Mr Srinivasan should be the representative of the BCCI in the ICC. As a testament to his leadership skills, the ICC members have proposed Mr Srinivasan to be the chairman of the ICC for a period of two years starting July 2014. Another thing one must take into consideration is that the board members were unanimous in their decision to make Mr Srinivasan the representative of the board during the Annual General Meeting in September 2013 and it means that he need not necessarily be the president of BCCI to attend the ICC meeting.

With regard to all that has been hovering around the fixing saga, it is a well-known fact that Gurunath Meiyappan is facing criminal investigation. However, in the absence of proof, even his wife cannot be held guilty of committing a criminal offence, leave alone his father-in-law, Mr Srinivasan. This is basic jurisprudence and it should not be forgotten. It is important to understand that Mr Srinivasan has not been accused by anyone of either betting or match-fixing or, for that matter, any other indiscretion. The board members commended the proposals made by him and were appreciative of all the measures he has taken so far for the betterment of not just Indian cricket but world cricket. Therefore it is no surprise that they feel Mr Srinivasan is the right man for the job.