Rearguard act: Thakur comes out defending BCCI

• Says many of Lodha recommendations are impractical • Affiliate-states should earn membership via hard work • The BCCI chef says daily criticisms not helping sports in India DIMAPUR, JUNE 1: The face-off with the Supreme Court of India¬¬ –in the form of the recommendations made by the former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha for sweeping reforms in Indian cricket –has presented the BCCI with its biggest challenge yet. The Supreme Court has been unequivocal in its message to the BCCI as to who is calling the shots in this courtroom-boardroom battle. Yet the BCCI, too, has been unflinchingly defiant till date. In early March this year, it had countered that the Lodha report was riddled with impractical suggestions with potentials to encourage further corruptions and inequality within the Indian cricket establishment. A similar reasoning was presented on Tuesday last by the new BCCI chief, Anurag Thakur when he came to Dimapur. “Many of the recommendations are not even practical in nature,” was the argument he offered on Tuesday. One of the salient recommendations –which has received undivided acceptance from among the affiliate states, including Nagaland –was the “one state-one vote” system. This, however, has been countered by the BCCI saying that it could lead to corruption. “Equal representation irrespective of cricketing activities is likely to result in a situation where states with little or no cricketing activity will abuse their representation. The ‘one country-one vote’ system resulted in the FIFA corruption scandal of 2015 where countries where there has been little or no football activity were allegedly bribed by FIFA officials to vote in a particular manner,” it pointed out. Thakur also explained that historically, the BCCI membership structure has been on the levels of cricketing activity in a particular area rather than geographical demarcations of states. “I do not mean to break your hearts but we have to realistic.”He affirmed his faith in the Indian judicial system saying that he was confident of the Supreme Court scrutinizing whether the recommendations were “implementable” or not. “I am not going to comment on what the court will do or not but we all believe in our judicial system.” Thakur reasoned that the affiliate-states should aim to earn their full-fledged BCCI membership through hard work. He cited the story of his own Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) as an example. This is a story that continues to inspire awe among the cricket community in India: when Thakur became the president of HPCA at the young age of 25, all that he inherited were seven chairs, one iron cupboard and a typewriter. Yet he went on to build 5 cricket stadiums in Himachal with the one at Dharamsala as the standout creation – ranked among the world’s most picturesque cricket grounds. The first five years, he said, were devoted to developing infrastructure. Then, automatically, the rewards followed. In 2005-06 season, Himachal Pradesh stunned Indian cricket by lifting the Ranji Trophy –India’s premier domestic cricket league. “Prior to that, we had never won the trophy. “I am sure you can do it too, because you are better than us. You have a very senior leader heading your association. Under his guidance, I am sure that your association will grow,” Thakur said. He also said that the tendency in India was for “everyone to poke their nose” in the workings of the BCCI. “The organizations that are criticizing us, they have to look into themselves. We are far more transparent than them.” The BCCI, he said, was the only board/federation that does not depend on the state or the central government to create fund for infrastructure. In fact, the BCCI has donated Rs 50 crore for the development of other sports in the country, Thakur reminded. “We should know that all these daily criticisms are not helping sports in India.”