What will the Board do if Dhoni and Yuvraj decide to play for ICL?

Sanjay Kapoor/Akash Bisht Delhi

Despite the passion it arouses, as the bang-bang versions become the one-dimensional foreplay of this love game, cricket can no longer be referred as a classical gentleman's game. It has transformed into a modern day, hit and run marketing gimmick driven by the relentless force of big cash where the fat cats of big corporations and cricket bodies call the shots, with star cricketers turning billionaires overnight. Amid all this chaos is BCCI, the world's richest cricket board, dictating terms on how the game should be promoted. Crores are being spent on glittery events rather than promoting the game or talented youngsters, in building infrastructure, or helping former players by giving them either jobs, financial assistance, or professional opportunities. Cliques are bossy and accountability is zero, while the game goes on endlessly, without respite. Television channels concentrate more on advertisements rather than what's happening on the field.

The arrival of Subhash Chandra backed Indian Cricket League (ICL) has outraged BCCI. The board has declared a virtual war against them — not allowing their players to play for their state teams, threatening their financers and not granting them permission to play on any of their stadiums. This is a form of apartheid in what is a rapidly becoming market-driven phenomenon in the current scenario. To outsmart the ICL the BCCI has gone to the extent of announcing their version — the Indian Premier League (IPL) . This hysterical response seems bereft of rationality or logic because the BCCI itself is a private, autonomous body, operating in a free market economy, minting money like nobody's business. So what is wrong with the BCCI? Why is it behaving with such amateurish pettiness? Cricket legend Kapil Dev, head of the executive Board of the ICL, in an exclusive interview with Hardnews at Delhi Golf Club lashes out at the BCCI and explains how the Board has been nothing else but hostile against ICL, its players and everyone else associated with it.

You have been associated with cricket for decades. What is your assessment of the cricket management in our country? 

I am here to serve the game. Our system is such that we cannot work for sports after our careers are over. We should make sports a proper career so that even after players retire, they do not have to take jobs with banks or in other sectors. The irony is that former players are now working in various sectors about which they never knew anything, while people who know nothing about the game have been associated with cricket for the past 30 years. A lot of great players are looking for jobs while the board is getting foreign coaches and support staff. This is not justified.

What steps can be initiated in this regard?

Politicians should not control the game, cricketers should. Look at my case. I have played for Haryana for many years but I am not part of the Haryana Cricket Board. There are numerous others like me. Instead, we have politicians who never had anything to do with sports but they are part of state cricket boards. In the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), 21 votes out of the total tally of 35 are controlled by politicians. That is what hurts me. It's a money game, but we should also let players share that booty.

Why cannot Sunil Gavaskar, Bishen Singh Bedi, Nawab Pataudi or Ajit Wadekar be president of the Board? Why does it have to be a politician? Why is none of the secretaries from cricket? I want cricketers to decide and vote for the Board's president and secretary.

What do you think of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and how will it help cricket?

I am thankful to Subhash Chandra that he has initiated such a step because it will help the game. I am not worried about the financial part. Players who were earning very little are getting now handsome perks through ICL. We have started this to promote the game. My goal is achieved if more youngsters play cricket.

Our focus at ICL is to give more opportunities to youngsters. We want to make as many cricketers as we can.

Has the Board treated retired players well?

Sharad Pawar is a good man but there are others who don't let things happen. They follow the divide and rule policy. While we want to serve the game by promoting cricket, we are not being allowed to do that. The maximum they can do for retired players is to make them selectors. We dedicated our lives to the sport and then we are just asked to walk out with a meagre pension. The board should take care of players who retire from the game, not just give them pension. I don't understand why only 10 or 12 cricketers are making money. It's the cricketers who need to speak out and ask the Board about these disparities.

Why have you been so critical of the Board's pension policy?

Look at senior players like Bedi, Prasanna, Chandu Borde and others, who have been waiting for years for the Board to give them a call. Bedi has his own mind so the Board doesn't want to entertain him. Our board is the richest cricket board in the world. Why do they give us pension when we retire from game? They should give us jobs. A player has only about 20 years of cricket in him. After that, he should not just be given a pension.

Why is the Board at loggerheads with you and the ICL? 

The constitution of the BCCI says cricket should be promoted; so if I have played cricket for 20 years and if I do something to promote the game then I should be encouraged. That doesn't happen in India. If I promote the game through the ICL, my motives are being questioned.

Do you think youngsters have made the right decision by opting for ICL?

Everyone has the right to choose his future. The Board should not just ignore a good player because he is playing with the ICL. It should let everybody play and select the best for the country, irrespective of whether he plays for the ICL or domestic matches. What if tomorrow Dhoni and Yuvraj decide to play for ICL? Will they be dropped from the Indian team?

The boys at the ICL are earning much more than what Board would have ever offered them. Recently, a boy from Northeast told Kapil that his mother does not have to work as a sweeper any longer, now that he is earning good money.

What are your views on the BCCI's Indian Premier League (IPL)?

I am not against the IPL because it again would offer more opportunities to other players and will help in promoting the game. How is IPL different from ICL? If the Board supports cricket, it should support us rather than become our rival.

When you started the ICL, what problems did you face from the BCCI?

Our sponsors were threatened that if they associated with us, the BCCI would not associate with them. The Board did not let us play at any of the stadiums, even the ones they don't own. Our players were threatened and told that if they joined the ICL they would never be able to play domestic cricket again. There were many players who wanted to go back and play for their states but they have been denied that. However, they can't stop cricketers from joining us because these cricketers have made up their mind. The Board is treating us and these cricketers as their rivals.

Do you think that now with ICL there are two parallel structures for cricket in India?

The question of two parallel structures would not have arisen if the Board would have let us work under their guidelines. We would have loved to be a part of the Board and play cricket under their guidelines but they did not allow us.

What are your future plans? Did you earn any profits from the just finished ICL tournament?

As long as sponsors and financers are with us, we will try to play all formats of the game, be it 20-20, one-dayers, three-day or five-day matches. I won't say we did not lose any money but this was just a start. I was happy to see people's response.

Do you think that someday an ICL eleven will be better than India's eleven?

We haven't reached that stage where we can say that one of our players is better than someone in the Indian team. We have had only one season and we need more time to make such claims. So let us give these young players more time and then let the people and media decide. If we produce better players, they should definitely be selected for the Indian team. But if it turns out that we have a better player who deserves to be in the Indian team, I will go to any extent to make that boy play for his country.

The foreign players that you have hired have retired from the game. Do you think that it was a wise decision to rope them in?

Youngsters who never get to play with the likes of Sachin, Sourav or Dravid will at least get a chance to sit with some of the greatest players of all time who have just retired. Sharing a dressing room with the likes of Lara, Inzamam, Cairns will teach them new things. We have 30 international players and I agree that the money is the bait for them but they also are doing what they love to do the most — play cricket.

What do you think of India's prospects in Down Under?

Personally, I believe we will have a good series as the men in yellow don't have two of their greatest bowlers and no one can fill their shoes. But it will be tough for us to beat them. Our bowling attack is thin and we don't have much of experience. It would be difficult for our bowlers to take 20 wickets in a match.