IS Bindra pressed the right buttons

In an age where communication between the Indian cricket body and the media has become increasingly important there is in fact far less interaction as compared to earlier eras when the cricket canvas was not as wide and colourfulHow many times has current BCCI chief Mithun Manhas placed himself in front of the media Ditto Roger Binny his predecessor These Irsquom sure are not always individual choices but reflect the approach of the Board who are uncomfortable in revealing what lies behind their decorated cloakFormer BCCI president Inderjit Singh Bindra who passed away in New Delhi on Sunday at the age of 84 was one BCCI functionary who truly believed that the media is an important arm of the gameBindra along with NKP Salve and Jagmohan Dalmiya were the alltime greats of Indian cricket administration because they proved to the world that India are as capable if not better of hosting bigticket events Imran Khan was not one to dish out plaudits easily but he had no hesitation in saying that the 1987 World Cup cohosted by India and Pakistan was the best organised of all World Cups he was part ofIrsquom not sure how many points Salve scored when it came to dealing with the fourth estate but Bindra scored over Dalmiya by a mile And Raj Singh Dungarpur who succeeded Bindra in 1996 was very approachable as wellBindra was known to encourage players to interact with the media I heard a story about how one pressman was tired of chasing a player for an interview He then decided to take it up with Bindra then the Board president Bindra asked the evasive player whether he had good reason for not granting the journalist the interview When the response was lame he ordered him to oblige the journalist Being a mediasupporting president didnrsquot mean Bindra was not liked by the players ldquoA great administrator of the game whose influence I witnessed from a very young agerdquo wrote Yuvraj Singh on XI remember seeing Ravi Shastri leave the PCA Stadium at the end of his commentary work for the 1999 India vs NZ Test He had almost stepped out of the lounge when he turned back to bid goodbye to Bindra His walking back probably to thank him also displayed reverenceBindra was known to utter ldquoshootrdquo when approached by a journalist for a comment on an issue It happened to me when I spoke to him for the first time seeking a comment from him as a past president of the BCCI on the pitch vandalism of the Kotla in 1999 In a 2004 interview he told me ldquoThe media makes cricket so great You have to reach them They shouldnrsquot reach yourdquoThe world knows he played a key role in building the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali A full house there for a daynight fixture was a sight for the gods mdash just like the Eden Gardens in Kolkata where his friendturnedfoe Dalmiya called the shots But what Bindra offered the media was far more appreciated In the 1990s the media box at Mohali was not the most spacious and comfortable But the pavilion end where the media were housed was immaculate the housekeeping all over personally supervised by Bindrarsquos efficient wife KamalVeteran journalist Pradeep Magazine who began his career in Chandigarh told me on Wednesday that Bindra treated journalists as special people He threw parties for them with the finest liquor flowing ldquoSure he knew the importance of PR but he was a pathbreaker in the sense that he realised how important the media was to the commercial value of cricket in IndiaRemember he played a role in getting the 1987 and 1996 World Cups to India He even had good relations with the overseas press and got journalists on his side unlike Dalmiyardquo said Magazine who knew Bindra even before he entered the inner ring of the BCCI as president of the Punjab Cricket AssociationMike Coward the celebrated Australian writer recalled from Sydney on Wednesday how Bindra as BCCI president made the travelling media contingent comfortable during the 1996 World Cup ldquoBindra was also a prominent BCCI figure in an important phase in IndiaAustralia cricket mdash the 1986 Tied Test and the 1987 World Cuprdquo said Coward who post those two events wrote a book called Cricket Beyond the BazaarIf Bindra was keen on attending to the needs of the media he was primarily hellbent on seeing that spectators were not shortchanged In the same 2004 interview he told me ldquoMoney earned by the BCCI is not being misused but more funds should be used into channels like improving public amenities mdash toilets catering drinking water etc Why havenrsquot we analysed as to why so many matches get abandoned due to poor crowd behaviour People stand for six hours to enter the stadium They canrsquot go out to even get a bottle of water because they will lose their seat We have a tremendous public but we canrsquot treat them like sardinesrdquoOne of the more famous Bindra utterances according to Magazine was made in the wake of what he perceived as unfair treatment to the Amarnath brothers Mohinder and Surinder Bindra challenged those who were giving the siblings the rough end of the selectorial stick by calling for a match that pitted the rest of India against players from the NorthMaybe the BCCI should think of organising this match and calling it the IS Bindra Trophy mdash in honour of a man who brought in dynamism among other things to Indiarsquos cricketing ecosystemmiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper