SC must intervene in cricket

The Supreme Court must rule on the BCCI matter lest the politics of governance slips even more out of control. The top court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) is not only being dragged into cricket politics but has also been a bitterly divided house, though it has only two members now, instead of the original four. The kind of battles being waged, egged on by disgruntled BCCI members who have been rendered ineligible to hold posts but who pull strings from beyond, is giving the game’s administration a bad name. Team India, led by Virat Kohli, has steered clear of BCCI politics, in victory and defeat. The women’s team was, however, dragged into issues of selection prejudice and blatant discrimination against Test captain Mitahli Raj engineered by the former coach. Not even the CoA member has kept herself out of selection matters, which means her disruptive tactics must be taken into account by the top court.

The top court must recast the CoA temporarily and ask it to operate within well-defined parameters while it gives the cricket associations a deadline-bound last opportunity to accept the reforms recommended by the Lodha committee. The reforms were endorsed by the top court after a bitter court battle costing around Rs 300 crore of cricket money for expensive lawyers. In principle, cricket admin should be in the hands of those with experience in sporting matters. The court can and must insist that the BCCI accepts the spirit of the reforms, puts its house in order and holds elections to bring in a new generation of administrators to whom the game can be entrusted. The CoA, in existence for nearly two years now, is only an ad hoc arrangement. The court must show the way ahead firmly now.