CHENNAI:IT does not come as a surprise that the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and BCCI officebearers are always at loggerheads. The latest flashpoint is the choice of speaker for the annual MAK Pataudi memorial lecture to be held in Bengaluru on June 12. The BCCI’s General Manager (Game Development) Syed Saba Karim, who reports to the CoA, has chosen former England batsman Kevin Pietersen.
This has angered acting BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary, who in an e-mail to Karim, wondered whether he was choosing someone for the Pataudi memorial lecture or the “Len Hutton or Frank Wooley memorial lecture”. Choudhary also wrote that neither he nor the acting BCCI president and treasurer were consulted before finalising Pietersen and expressed surprise over the selection of a “foreigner” ahead of the names suggested by him — Nari Contractor, Chandu Borde, Erapalli Prasanna and Abbas Ali Baig. “Unable to stomach the ease with which the significance of the lecture has been derailed,” he added.
It can be noted that Choudhary’s protest is unlikely to result in anything, since the decision regarding Pietersen has already been taken. Sources in the know said Karim had informed the CoA and BCCI officials before taking the decision. “Everyone was told that one of Pietersen, Sourav Ganguly, Kumar Sangakkara and Nasser Hussain would be chosen. Pietersen was finalised because he was the only one to confirm availability.”
About the names put forth by the acting BCCI secretary, it was learnt that authorities wanted someone contemporary, since the topics concern modern trends. “It will be one of peace and sustainability through cricket looking at the emergence of Afghanistan, behaviour and conduct of players, inclusion of Olympic. If these are the subjects, someone in touch with the game would be a better choice, it was thought,” said sources.
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