The Board of Control for Cricket in India seems to be stumbling from one storm to another, almost floundering like a richly-laden schooner adrift at sea with a broken rudder and main sail. Its decision to go ahead with the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) appears to have only added to its woes.
The 13th edition of the IPL is scheduled for a September 19 start but BCCI has not yet published the match schedule for the 51-day jamboree in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Not that it poses much of a problem since there are hardly extensive travel arrangements to be made by the franchises except booking luxury buses to the venue and back. Yet it shows how little people figure in BCCI’s scheme of things.
Neither is the telecast revenue dependent on the match schedule, except for the few dedicated spots each franchise reserves for its sponsors, which again is only a very small part of the extensive commercial scheduling involving an event of this magnitude.
There is no dearth of ad-hoc measures with regards to BCCI functioning. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly continues in his post of Board president pending the Supreme Court decision on the application to amend the BCCI constitution and allow the stylish left-hander to complete a full five-year term in office. Similar is the case of Board secretary Jay Shah.
With Board vice-president Jayesh George having quit in April itself to return to manage the affairs in his home state, there remains only BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal in his position without any debate among the top four elected functionaries. Not the most desirable state of affairs by any stretch of imagination.
And now as the IPL caravan headed to the UAE a dozen plus members from a single franchise tested positive for the dreaded Covid19 infection, yet again putting a huge question mark on the wisdom of going ahead with the tournament at all amidst the prevailing global pandemic.
There’s precious little BCCI can do in this regard since it has already put in place the bio-secure bubble for each franchise apart from an extensive standard operating procedure for all concerned.
BCCI has indeed stretched its neck out for IPL 2020, finding a quick replacement when the original title sponsor was found unsuitable to continue in the prevailing circumstances of strained relations with neighbour China.
Its nothing short of a miracle that BCCI, despite the massive loss of revenue due to the lock-downs and subsequent ban on sports events, has not yet imposed any pay-cuts on players and staff like several other cricket boards around the world.
But how long can this state of affairs continue, especially given that Ganguly and Shah are quite pragmatically shying away from taking any tough decisions that they may end up regretting later. More so since their position as Board officials hangs in balance.
All said and done, IPL 2020 would a test of survival for BCCI and a real tough one at that. And not even a ball has been bowled yet!
Ravi Kant Singh is a sports writer, analyst and broadcaster since 1984, having covered a wide spectrum of sports—Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, FIFA World Cup, Cricket World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, to name a few.
While working for ESPN Star Sports, he was a regular commentator for NBA, tennis, golf and many a major soccer leagues of Europe and South America. He has also pushed the cart of new home-grown leagues in India: Pro Kabaddi and Hockey India league, being involved with both since launch.
