Dubai: It's not everyday that you find N. Srinivasan, the strongman of Indian cricket, going on the defensive. The taciturn industry baron from Chennai since choosing to come out of the shadows to the top officialdom of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been known to be the hard bargainer — a subtle arrogance always marking his demeanour.
However, less than 24 hours after the Sahara Group pulled the rug out from under BCCI's feet, it was somewhat unusual to find him making the first move at a rapprochement. Calling it a "perceptional difference" between the two parties, Srinivasan called truce and, thereafter, it looks just a matter of time before the two parties agree to meet halfway.
There was, of course, something corny about the manner Sahara suddenly decided to withdraw from all forms of association with the Indian board — ‘timing' their decision a few hours before the auction of Indian Premier League (IPL). Not surprisingly, their pullout on an eventful Saturday put to shade young Ravinder Jadeja's windfall deal of more than $2 million (Dh7.34 million) as soundbytes of Subroto Roy's press conference dominated the TV channels.
The way the Sahara-BCCI saga panned out over last week only strengthened the buzz that the former — who had invested $100 million for acquiring 42.5 per cent stake in Force India F1 team late last year — had long begun to feel that the brand value of Sahara logo on Dhoni & Co's shirts had outlived its utility for them.
If that's the worry that may have taught Srinivasan his first lessons in humility, then one should be thankful to Sahara for giving at least a wake-up call.
"For long, the Indian cricket establishment refused to believe that the law of diminishing returns could ever hit them. The problem is now they have over-priced themselves so much that even the interested companies will think twice before jumping the bandwagon," an industry source close to the Sahara Group said.
The sponsorship imbroglio, incidentally, is not the only problem that the egoistic BCCI officials have on the table at the moment. While they and Sahara are expected to work out a compromise formula for at least retaining the Pune Warriors team in IPL V, they are currently left with no official broadcaster after terminating their contract with Nimbus over non-payment of dues.
Concerned
It's not that the BCCI is overly concerned with the Test team's woeful performance first in England and then Australia — for in the words of the board president himself they would get back to winning ways once a home series gets under way. A look at the fixtures will show that he has certainly done his homework, for India is not playing any Tests until September and everybody knows that public memory is short.
What may be of greater concern to the BCCI is that empty stadiums have been greeting international cricketers in India over the past few years, including the last World Cup in non-India games. Even Kolkata's Eden Gardens, famous for 50,000-odd fans even on a potentially fruitless fifth day not so long ago, saw such small turnouts that former England captain Tony Greig compared it to a "morgue" during the India-West Indies Test match in November.
If an overkill of the game is looking to threaten the golden goose for the world's richest cricket board, the current regime seems to have opened up too many fronts in recent times by playing the big bully with traditional allies among boards of neighbouring countries.
While Pakistan is distinctly peeved at an unresponsive BCCI at any proposal of resuming India-Pakistan cricket ties on a neutral venue, no less humiliating has been the continued snub of the Pakistan cricketers — some of them exceptional Twenty20 players — from the IPL for the last three seasons.
The more recent developments, not really major but disturbing, concern the board's dealings with the Sri Lankan and Bangladesh boards. Last year, they had virtually ‘killed' the Sri Lankan board's elaborate plans of an IPL-type T20 league by going back on their promise to release some of their fringe stars. The reason: the marketing company which tied up with the Sri Lankan board as event managers had apparent links with one Lalit Modi!
The latest one was they did not comply with Bangladesh's request to release five Indian players for their newly formed Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), which got under way on Thursday.
"Their [BCCI] paranoia that any parallel effort in the region may rob the sheen off IPL has reached such an extent that they did not even agree to release someone like Sourav Ganguly, a retired international, whom we wanted in view of his popularity among Bangladeshi fans," an official of Bangladesh Cricket confided.
It's certainly time for the BCCI to realise that there's more to administration of the game than making money!
epa03091993 Subroto Roy, Chairman Sahara Group, speaks during a media conference in Mumbai, India, 04 February 2012. Sahara India ended its 11-year-old financial ties with BCCI and also pulled out of the IPL by withdrawing from Pune Warriors ownership. EPA/STR
Turmoil
BCCI's CUP OF WOES
INDIAN TEAM'S POOR FORM: As if the 4-0 rout in England and loss of the No 1 Test rank wasn't enough, the Indian team endured a similar fate Down Under too to lose face and credibility. With most of the blame deflected on the board for the mess, the Indian board is now treading on thin ice as far as goodwill is concerned.
BATTLE WITH BROADCASTERS: BCCI terminates Nimbus' broadcast deal immediately after the series against West Indies over payment issues. It even threatens to encash bank guarantee.
COURT BATTLES: In an unexpected move, BCCI bans Rajasthan Royals and King's XI Punjab from the IPL, citing violation of franchise agreements. The teams were reinstated by the Bombay High Court and the two parties are arbitrating.
KOCHI TERMINATED: Kochi Tuskers are evicted from the IPL over payment issues. The team's players were put up for auction on Saturday but only a few were sold.
SAHARA'S BODY BLOW: Sahara withdraws its IPL team over a fight over Yuvraj Singh. It also ends its ten-year sponsorship deal with the BCCI.
OUSTER OF LALIT MODI: BCCI's run of misfortune starts with financial anomalies coming to the fore in IPL's functioning, under the chairmanship of Lalit Modi. His tweet about Team Kochi and sweat equity to Sunanda Pushkar opened the Pandora's box.
FALLOUT WITH NEIGHBOURING BOARDS: There is simmering tension between the Indian board and other members of Asian Cricket Council (ACC) over issues like India-Pakistan series, non-cooperation about release of players with other T20 teams.
— G.B.
