Besides browbeating, resorting to jargons and hyperbole, Indian cricket seems to be doing nothing. Why aren’t we perplexed at all? Even a week after the Lodha Committee’s scathing verdict that is threatening to shake the very foundation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), there seems to be no headway. The board’s methods show how clueless officials are and there is no clarity on anything. When the Indian Premier League governing council met on Sunday, there was no discussion on what needs to be done. It was just said a sub-committee would be formed. Even members of this committee were not named. Whatever the learned members discussed, it seemed ludicrous and superficial. Their view, as some members claimed, is that the verdict needs close examination. If the world has got the essence of the verdict, it is unfathomable that the board has not. Creating another sub-committee to go with existing ones seems another excuse to run away from the real issue.
Why is the Indian cricket board not taking action? Shouldn’t the president and the secretary of the board have addressed the matter directly? What is stopping them from calling a special general meeting? The best possible decision would have been to convene such a meeting featuring all BCCI members and even the stakeholders to chalk out a way forward. Why leave it to another sub-committee that will arrive at a decision which will be placed before the IPL governing council, which in turn will have to forward it to the working committee? Its constitution says all decisions taken by this council has to be cleared by the working committee. But this was the same council that failed to take any action against the culprits when all hell broke loose in 2013. Who is the BCCI trying to fool by shifting responsibility to another sub-committee?
Perhaps, there is no answer to this, as the learned members are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. On one hand, they want to run the two teams – Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals – until their ban is over so that the players don’t suffer. They have almost decided to not terminate the two teams. At the same time, the Supreme Court is monitoring what’s happening in the board very closely. So is the whole world. In cricketing jargon, there is no room for error this time.