After SC Verdict, Players Emerge Biggest Gainers - Cue Ganguly?

The Supreme Court bench has given BCCI a 6 month deadline to implement the Lodha panel recommendations.

The decision of the Supreme Court to accept almost all the recommendations of the Justice Lodha panel will have far reaching consequences on Indian cricket.

The full impact of the recommendations will be felt in the coming days when the fine print will be read and re-read by all the stakeholders. For now though, it is clear that the following will feel a definite impact

• Netas who are keen to become ministers
  
• All the battle scarred veterans
  
• Office-bearers seeking a no limit to tenure
  
• Office-bearer holding more than one post

With most career administrators set to be affected by the Lodha panel recommendations, players are likely to emerge the biggest gainers post the shake-up.

The most interesting aspect of the recommendations relate to the formation of a Players Association. The aim is to provide a voice to the players in all matters.

Players’ Voice?

So far the players in India have not been able to forge unity and present a common case to the BCCI. There have been failed attempts to form a Players Association, first in the late 1970s under Bishen Bedi and Sunil Gavaskar, then in 1989 under Mohinder Amarnath. Then finally in 2002 led by probably the most powerful group ever-Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Arun Lal and Ravi Shastri- the players managed to get more out of the BCCI revenues.

Since then however the Board has managed to keep the players on their side with regular increase in fees, introduction of a well-managed pension scheme and whole host of other measures.

Hence, the recommendation to form a Players’ Union is a very curious step. A member of the Players’ Union will also have a seat on the soon to be formed Apex Council.

This is unprecedented, because in no other cricket board is there a place for a Player’ Union representative in their highest decision-making panel.

In fact that is the reason why the most powerful of the former players, Ganguly, could well emerge as the rallying point and a poster boy for implementation of the reforms. With him already being at the helm of affairs in Bengal, a promotion to the national stage could well be in store in the coming months.

In most major cricket playing countries, except the sub-continent, there are independent members chosen from various walks of life to form the board of directors.  Players’ Union representatives are consulted under a formal process which has been institutionalised. In these countries, Players’ Union is not just a trade union calling for industrial strike, but it helps implement a formal employer-employee relation.

The merits of such a set-up in India are yet to be seen because they are almost always viewed with suspicion. That the Lodha panel recommendation raises the stake of the Players’ Union.

Of the panel tasked with setting up the Players’ Union, Kumble is already in a new role of that of India’s head coach. So it remains to be seen if someone new can be co-opted or if Kumble can continue.

Players Pay to Take a Hit?

Apart from the role of the Players’ Union, it is the downgrading of institutional and club (CCI and NCC) teams to just associate status, drastically reduce their influence. With the institutional sides having no voting rights, the role of the government of the day at BCCI elections also end. Hopefully that will not impact the job opportunities for aspiring players still not catching the fancy of IPL franchises.

Most other recommendations of the Lodha panel have been implemented already by the BCCI. A CEO and a CFO are in place, major expense details are on their website regularly and an ombudsman has been appointed. An independent auditor is already evaluating accounts of state associations. So in a way BCCI was already half way through the implementation of the recommendations, it is the other half that will test their mettle.