Given the BCCI bosses' high-handedness in handling the reforms suggested by the SC-appointed Lodha Committee, state associations warn of possibility of a breakaway faction being created
Justice RM Lodha, Anurag Thakur
Justice RM Lodha and Anurag Thakur
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The ongoing tussle between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Supreme Court-appointed Justice RMâÂÂu00c2u0080ÂÂu00c2u0088Lodha Committee may end up giving birth to a breakaway faction in the Indian cricket board. And if sources in various state associations are anything to go by, the breakaway faction is most likely to get the support of the state bodies too.
“There seems to be no end to this mess and now it has turned into a battle of egos rather than an emphasis on logic. This way, cricket is going to suffer, which none of us want, so we have to do something. We can’t fight with the Supreme Court and have to find a middle path,” said a state association official this morning.
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“When you are pushed to the wall, you have to find a way out to survive. During the Special General Meeting (SGM) in Mumbai last Saturday, all state bodies showed their support to the BCCI leadership. All state associations are on one plane in this matter despite the fact that the state associations’ day-to-day work won’t be hampered even if the current BCCI top brass is replaced with administrators appointed by the Supreme Court. The state bodies have worked in tandem with the BCCI for so long, so if such a situation arises, I am sure most state bodies would like to side with the breakaway faction for the betterment of the game,” said the source.
Another association head said that the current situation could have been easily avoided had BCCI bosses handled the whole issue democratically from the time the Lodha recommendations were sent to then president Shashank Manohar’s office.
“What the BCCI did last Saturday could have been done much earlier. But the BCCI presidents didn’t have the time to listen. Since Sharad Pawar left, all BCCI presidents have brought Indian cricket down. When the Lodha recommendations were first sent to Manohar, instead of deliberating on issues, he quit his post. The current president Anurag Thakur has no time, so where do we go? This was bound to happen,” said the source.
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“All the BCCI needed to do at the start was sit with the state bodies, discuss all recommendations in detail and meet Justice Lodha to make him understand which recommendations could be implemented and which couldn't. Those were just recommendations, not orders, but instead of doing that, Thakur decided to enter into a confrontation without discussing the pros and cons with the board’s legal panel. Can you imagine that at a time when the board finds itself in such a huge legal tangle, the BCCI’s legal panel is nowhere to be seen,” it further added.
On Monday, mid-day reported that the BCCI didn’t consult former Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju before the SGM in Mumbai on Saturday. Katju was appointed by the BCCI to study the Lodha panel recommendations and guide the board but after the submission of his report, the BCCI stopped all communications with him.
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