#TheHindu #Editorial A whiff of reform

In its first working committee meeting since Shashank Manohar’s election as president, the Board of Control for Cricket in India offered an indication of how seriously it views the conflict of interest issue. It was during Mr. Manohar’s first term that the BCCI’s constitution was amended to allow office-bearers a stake in the Indian Premier League – a lot of the problems that have dented the Board’s image can be traced back to that moment. At the start of his second term, Mr. Manohar had spoken of the need to address this crisis of credibility. The three-page document recommending stringent measures, circulated ahead of the working committee meeting, might not have raised as much public interest as news of the future of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. But its implications have greater significance. Mr. Manohar’s proposals seek to ensure that positions of power are not exploited. If the proposals are accepted at the annual general meeting in November, the way the Board operates could change at a fundamental level. Administrators or near-relatives, for instance, will not be allowed to have commercial interests in activities or tournaments, including the IPL. Selectors and coaches will not be associated with player management companies or player agents. Current cricketers cannot have business interests in player management agencies.

While there was never any doubt that the BCCI would discuss the issue at Sunday’s meeting, the firmness of intent surprised a few, not least some within the Board. Along anticipated lines, however, was the decision to invite bids for two new teams to replace CSK and RR, suspended for two years as recommended by the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee tasked with investigating corruption in the IPL. Few expected the BCCI to take further action and terminate the franchise agreement: it was certainly more convenient for the Board to say it had done everything that was asked of it by the Lodha Committee than begin proceedings certain to turn complicated and costly. But strangely, the matter of CSK’s valuation at just Rs. 5 lakh when the franchise was demerged from India Cements Ltd. was not discussed. For, Mr. Manohar, then representing the Vidarbha Cricket Association, had raised questions about it at a meeting in April. There were other signs, however, that the BCCI was pressing ahead with reform. The proposed addition of independent members to the IPL’s governing council, and the appointment of an independent agency to examine the State associations’ utilisation of Board funds, to cite two, are moves in the right direction. The BCCI faces challenges, many from within, in its advertised quest to change; the increased public and judicial scrutiny means that it will be held to higher standards than in the past.

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