Firstpost

The irony of the situation isn’t lost on Professor Ratnakar Shetty.

When he first got into cricket administration, the Board of Control for Cricket in India used to operate out of a small room in the North block of the Brabourne stadium. The filing system was antiquated, the staff numbered just five and the trophy cabinet creaked under the weight of trophies. It was a dark little room, very sarkari and like every other sporting organisation around the country; it had no money too.

But now, less than two decades later, the man who is the board’s chief administrative officer and its first paid employee, sits in a plush corporate office that dazzles with its splendour. The corporate restructuring, as recommended by TCS, has placed it on a higher plain and the money that has flowed in as a result of shrewd marketing has made the institution powerful beyond imagination. It is an office that is frequented by the high and mighty of the Indian political and corporate scene. To be associated with the BCCI is now a thing to be proud of.

The change is very apparent – not only on the surface but underneath as well. Even as other sports accuse cricket of hogging the limelight, they fail to understand that the continuing growth of the sport has a lot to do with efficient administration. Till the 1990s, the BCCI was probably even worse off than the other organisations. That was because it had taken a decision to be independent and not depend on government grants. So while others had a steady flow of money, the BCCI had to depend on its marketing nous.

“See, the BCCI like any other sports organisation in India did not have funds. The game was popular because of the sound base that it was developed on. But I believe that the biggest decision that the BCCI administration took was to be independent and not depend on government grants. That in a sense forced us to be proactive; if we wouldn’t make money, we wouldn’t survive. It was as simple as that,” said Shetty.

“The wins in 1971 (West Indies and England) and the 1983 World Cup made a big difference and made cricket even more popular. They gave the sport a big push. And from a sport that was dominated by cricketers from the big metros, we slowly started moving inland. I think the AIR radio commentary made the game popular – it reached out to the poorest of poor and we had a wide following of the game. Later on, when TV came to the country, Doordarshan which reaches out to 99%  of the people in India, took to the game to the far reaches of North-East as well,” the BCCI CAO added.

But the board also realised that unless India had a good supply line of talent, it would all not amount to much. The popularity of the sport was also tied to the success achieved on the field.

“The BCCI laid out a junior cricket format, which I think is the best in the world,” Shetty said. “The format provides children with a chance to showcase their talent and it is very competitive as well. We found that the boys in smaller towns and villages adopted the game and saw it as a career. And they saw idols in the team. That is one reason why you find very little representation from the five metros that used to dominate cricket. And all this is regardless of caste or creed. Maybe 15 years back, no one would have expected a boy from Ranchi to lead India and do it so successfully too.”

All this popularity has seen India and the BCCI become a powerful player on the world stage.

“Yes, today India is a dominating factor in international cricket in all respects – performance, administration and financial clout. There were times when we had to sit back and request teams to come here to play. But now every Test playing nation wants us to tour their country,” said Shetty.

Pages: 1 2