BCCI appointing Ganguly, Tendulkar and Laxman is great but what does 'advisory' mean?

Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman have been appointed to the BCCI advisory committee. Sounds good doesn’t it? But if someone can explain to us common folk, what these appointments mean and what the roles are it would be nice.

According to Times Now the roles will include the following:

1. Identifying the next coach

2. Development at the Grassroots level

3. Liaising between the team and the BCCI

I am sure there are some more roles but lets examine these for now.

It’s great to have names like these on your advisory committee but the term “advisory” needs to be defined. Unless the term is defined, it is usually where the wheels come off the wagon.

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For example, what will the BCCI’s response be to their recommendations? There are three options:

a) Thanks for the advise, but we’ll take it from here;

b) This is what the advisors have recommended and so their recommendation must be implemented come what may;

c) Consider and debate the recommendation and if it makes sense, then lets go with it. If not, we will come up with an alternative.

Option C might make the most sense but we have no idea which one the BCCI will choose? Besides, this is not the first time legends of the sport have been placed in BCCI committees. Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri etc. have all played a variety of roles with the team and the sport. Kumble, for example, is the chairman of the board’s technical committee that has just made recommendations to change the Ranji Trophy points structure.

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There are also questions about how each of these roles will be carried out.

The first one is easy. Help identify a coach and then appoint him. This is a very important job. Will the committee get the final say? And if so, then are they accountable for their appointment? John Wright and Gary Kirsten may have been golden picks as coaches, but for every Kirsten there is a Greg Chappell and for every Wright there is a Duncan Fletcher. Will their recommendation be the final word or will it be a suggestion?

Development of the game at the grassroots level is a serious responsibility. It requires focus and commitment from everyone involved. To create a blueprint -, a five-year and ten-year plan - it requires people to get their hands dirty. An in-depth study of the current situation, the infrastructure, rural coaching, selection, talent development, the finances required, allocation of resources, the list goes on.

Vague recommendations add no value. A concrete plan needs to be created with someone implementing it and then adjusting quickly depending on results. Are the members of the committee ready to take on this project? More importantly, do they they have the skills to create such a plan?

Finally, they mentioned that the committee would liaise between the BCCI and the team. I don’t really know what this means and so there is no point in commenting on it.

There is no evidence to prove that a great sportsman will be a great administrator. The greatest product the BCCI has created in recent times is the IPL. This was not the brainchild of a former cricketing great. It was created by a man with a vision beyond most of us and administrative and negotiation skills that are rare to find.

I am not saying that the three legends who have been appointed do not have this vision, but we can’t assume that just because VVS Laxman scored a magnificent 281 against the mighty Aussies he can craft a business plan to develop the game. The same goes for Tendulkar and Ganguly. In fact, Tendulkar’s contribution to sports as a Member of Parliament leaves something to be desired.

These three have contributed plenty to the country on the field and I do hope they can do the same off the field. But before we hype this up as a game-changer, lets wait till it plays out and understand what this “Advisory” committee is really all about.