India play
Bangladesh tomorrow and with a win is assured of a Semis berth in T20 WC ~ back
home, there is turmoil – for BCCI, its President, IPL and Cricket itself is at
the cross roads. Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI), headquartered at Mumbai, is the national governing body for all cricket
in India. The board was formed in December 1928; BCCI is a society, registered
under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. As a member of the
International Cricket Council (ICC), it has the authority to select players,
umpires and officials to participate in international events and exercises
total control over them.
BCCI has a
long and chequered history …. dating back to Mughals disintegration, when a
British ship dropped anchor off the coast of Kutch in western India. The
recreational activities the sailors indulged in on the coast elicited curious
reactions from onlookers. They perhaps
brought cricket to India. Calcutta
Cricket Club was established in 1792. Ten
years after its inception, the CCC organized a match between its team and the
Old Etonians. The Parsis were the first Indian civilian community to take to
cricket. They set up the Oriental Cricket Club in Mumbai in 1848. 1911
witnessed the first-ever tour of England by an 'All-India' team. Sponsored and
captained by the Maharaja of Patiala, the team featured the best cricketers of
the time. India got Test status in 1932
and played its inaugural Test at Lords in 1932, captained by Col CK
Nayudu. ~ Cricket which has developed at
a very rapid pace, is now at crossroads…… !!!
In a big setback to BCCI
president N Srinivasan, the Supreme Court today proposed his replacement by Sunil Gavaskar and
suspension of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) along with Rajasthan Royals (RR) from
IPL 7 till the pendency of case of betting and spot fixing scandal before it. The
court said it is intending to bar CSK, owned by India Cements, which is
promoted by Srinivasan, and RR, whose players and team officials are allegedly
involved in the scandal, from participating in the IPL 7 tournament slated to
begin from April 16. A bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik proposed the name of
veteran cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar to head the Board during the
pendency of the case in the apex court. "(Being recommended for post of
BCCI chief) Probably the greatest honor I have received. They will take a
call," Sunil Gavaskar was quoted as saying by ANI News. He also said that
nobody from the BCCI had contacted him as of now.
In seemingly a rattled
response, India's media manager Dr RN
Baba issued a gag order on the media, stating that questions will be
entertained "only on ICC World Twenty20". Once Dr Baba came into the
press conference arena with Rohit Sharma as captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni again
stayed away, he first announced that questions should only be based on
"India team and the World Twenty20". However, Dr Baba later clarified
that Dhoni "will from now on be available if India loses any match or else
the man of the match will be coming to attend the customary press meets."
Bill
Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was impeached by the House of
Representatives on two charges, one of perjury and one of obstruction of
justice, on December 19, 1998. Two other impeachment articles, a second
perjurycharge and a charge of abuse of power, failed in the House. He was
acquitted of both charges by the Senate on February 12, 1999. Perjury, also
known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or of
falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing,
concerning matters material to an official proceeding. Impeachment in the
United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal
charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office.
Impeachment is analogous to indictment in regular court proceedings.
This time last year MS
Dhoni had a series of question marks against him through his involvement with
India Cements; but the great win in Champions Trophy extinguished them all… now
there is pressure on Dhoni too, on the front that Dhoni had not revealed things
about CSK and it Guruanth Meiyappan, who
used team information for illegal betting. The Supreme Court has proposed
sweeping changes to the BCCI, including replacing N Srinivasan as the board's
chief with Sunil Gavaskar or a "seasoned or respected cricketer" and
suspending Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the IPL; the board has
been asked to reply to the proposals on Friday, after which the court will
issue an interim order. The court also proposed that employees of India
Cements, of which Srinivasan is managing director and which owns Super Kings,
should be kept out of the BCCI set-up.
Counsel for Cricket
Association of Bihar - whose petition in 2013 had led to this hearing - Harish
Salve's arguments took up most of the session, with him recommending
termination of the Super Kings and Royals franchises. Salve said that in
denying any knowledge of Gurunath's role in Super Kings, "the Indian
cricket captain has been indulging in corrupt conduct". Interestingly, Harish
Salve’s father NKP Salve was a BCCI president in the 1980s. The present
occurrence is seen as an unprecedented approach by the Apex Court to salvaging the cricket establishment in
India; and the cleanse promises to unearth much of the rot so far well-hidden
under the spanking carpet.
The present
occurrences cast a shadow on the IPL 7 itself ~ and there would be no interesting
IPL without CsK & RR…
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
27th Mar 2014.
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