CricDigs Blogs

The year 2008 will be remembered as a turning point in Indian as well as World cricket. The introduction of the IPL will change the way the world plays cricket… for better or for worse, only time will tell. Even though the current players will pledge their support for test cricket, by recognizing that form as the biggest test of one’a cricketing ability, I am not sure whether the Gen-Next of spectators will have both the time and the patience to follow a game for 5 days with a possibility of not finding a winner. T-20 will be lapped up by the younger generation, whether the purists like me like it or not. The true commercialization of Cricket as a comodity has begun.

But that is a discussion for another time. The current year will also be remembered for other things relating to cricket. It will be remembered for the way the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has treated the greatest player India has ever produced. Die hard fans of Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Kumble, Dravid, Ganguly or Vishwanath may spend hours trying to argue that they are the best, but there is no doubt in my mind that the greatest cricketer the country has ever produced is Kapil Dev. Even if we forget all the statistical facts which underline his greatness (400+ wickets, 5000+ runs, 175 not out when it mattered the most, etc, etc, etc) just the fact that he lead India to her ONLY world cup win is a good enough reason to perch him atop that pinnacle.

And the same player is now being insulted in every way possible by the world’s richest cricketing body. It is quite ironical that this treatment is being meted out to him in the 25th anniversary year of India’s 83 World Cup win. And for what reason? For supporting a “rebel” cricket league. He was forced to leave the chairmanship of NCA, and then his pension was terminated. And the final, probably the worst thing for his fans, was the removal of his gigantic poster (in his delivery stride) from the PCA stadium in Mohali. Such kind of insults are unthinkable, for the most successful captain India has ever produced.

The behaviour of the BCCI in recent months has become that of a spoilt kid of rich parents. The behaviour reminds me of the way a big international software company behaves to kill any kind of competition. Not allowing ICL players to play in BCCI backed domestic tournaments, just because they are playing for a different league so that they can tend to their families’ needs is quite distasteful. And there are many such instances of flexing muscles even on the international stage, which does not help in befriending anyone. They have to realize that what goes up, eventually comes down.

What does BCCI have to show, apart from its money? It’s “Team India” has done little of note until winning the T20 WC and CW Series. A shameful exit from the WC 2007 was the worst possible result from the team of a board which is overflowing with money. I hope some sanity prevails and the real cricketing hero of the country is given the respect he so deserves!

But whatever the BCCI does, there is one satisfying fact that will never change. The image of Kapil lifting the Prudential World Cup. BCCI can try its best to act as if Kapil never existed, but for each person in this country, that one moment of glory can never be erased from his/her mind. It is the most fitting snub to the snobbish cricketing board of my country, a board of which I am totally ashamed.