No BCCI ‘Defeat’ Yet, The ICC Title Bout Is Still to Be Settled

Many claim that the lack of a strong BCCI leadership led to this defeat. But the truth lies somewhere else.

There has been much hullabaloo about the BCCI ‘defeat’ at the recently held ICC meeting in Dubai. It has been assumed that a lot of ground was lost because of the shake-up in the BCCI.

At the meeting, unfortunately for the BCCI, majority of the Test nations voted in favour of a rollback of the Big Three structure, which presently helps India to be the beneficiary of a huge share of the revenue distribution.

Many claimed that the lack of a ‘strong’ BCCI leadership led to this loss. But the fact is that the truth lies somewhere else. A lot of ground was lost in the last couple of years with the previous BCCI set-up failing to read the writing on the wall.

Misplaced Focus

The old guard of the BCCI was busy setting up Indian cricket against the courts and also the International Cricket Council (ICC) via the media. It was all about certain office-bearers getting a seat on committees of the ICC and retaining their hold in India, rather than about recovering the lost ground.

So while they were busy trying to get themselves seats, the ‘other’ side went about changing the course via a working group. A seat on this ‘special’ group was specially a sore point, but the fact is this was formed before Anurag Thakur took over as BCCI president and consisted of the committee heads as of February 2016.

Under Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke, BCCI issued veiled threats about pulling out from ICC events and so on, but it was always seen as being hollow. These kind of threats would have worked in the past, but with an independent chairman in Shashank Manohar leading the charge it was always disregarded.

Lost Ground in Three Years

Over the past three years Indian cricket also lost of all-weather friends because of public posturing, politics and personal dislikes.

South Africa was lost because a previous head of BCCI did not like their CEO Haroon Lorgat, then under Thakur, Pakistan’s support was also lost because of not honouring the understanding to play a series.

Both South Africa and Pakistan were traditional allies in ICC boardroom battles, but a poor strategy led to their disenchantment. Pakistan had been won over in 2014 when the Big Three take over happened, with an offer to play a bilateral series.

Later, Thakur did not help matters by mixing his role as BJP MP with his BCCI presidential crown and made political comments on cricket against Pakistan, purely for public consumption.

All-Weather Support

BCCI’s only steadfast supporters were down to three in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Bangladesh’s support was guaranteed in 2014 thanks to the first-ever Test match in India between the two sides starting this week.

But that did not help matters, because Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan was part of the special group which reworked the ICC revenue structure. So he could not have voted against his own recommendation!

Zimbabwe has had Indian sides coming over in the last couple of years, while Sri Lanka has been a staunch ally except when Arjuna Ranatunga was their Board head.

West Indies the other ally was almost pushed aside when the BCCI demanded a fee for pulling out of a tour. However, some ground was recovered there with a settlement, but with no support in the Board battle.

So it is wrong to blame the shake-up in the BCCI for the ‘defeat’ in the ICC meetings. What happened in Dubai last week was but a reflection of the way the Indian cricket set-up was handled in the past few years.

India’s Stakes Still High

Even now nothing is lost for the BCCI because the reworked figures for India’s share are still significantly higher than the next best person on the table. It may not be at the same level as when it was unveiled in 2014, but there is no going back to the pre-2014 same for all formula anymore.

The significance of the Indian market has been appreciated in the reworked figures as well. Indian cricket’s role in providing economic muscle to the sport will never diminish. Added to this the fact is that the real test for the changes will be at the April board meeting.

The BCCI has two months under its present set of interim administrators to recover some lost ground. If they can play their cards well, the 2014 status quo can still be achieved.

For that deft handling of the situation will be required, rather than the public posturing of pulling out of ICC Champions Trophy and bilateral series via motivated plants in newspapers.

ICC Boardroom Not Constant

Even if the BCCI loses the battle in April, the war is not over. Remember nothing in the ICC is forever. It can never be a FIFA, because it is a member organisation with some being more equal than the others. That will not change even if the changes are implemented.

So don’t be surprised that the April meeting may be just be the quarter-final with there being another play-off in the future, maybe during the Annual Conference in June.

Excellent Cricket Decisions

The misplaced focus on the Indian ‘defeat’ led to a lack of attention to the changes approved for international bilateral cricket.

Some of the changes include the likely introduction of two new Test teams (Ireland/Afghanistan), a new Test league (nine + three), a 13-team ODI league giving every match context and regional qualification for World Twenty20. These are some much needed measures to provide fillip to dull bilateral exchanges.

But sadly all the focus was on the contest off the field.