Indian cricket is a mess: Sachin, Dravid will you speak up?

Dear Sachin, Rahul, Anil and Sourav, Is it not now time to speak up? [caption id=“attachment_1454467” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Should not Rahul Dravid break his silence on what’s happening to Indian cricket? Reuters[/caption] The game you love is being dragged through the mud by a man who can’t seem to relinquish even a shred of power, not even when asked to do so by the Supreme Court of India. Questions have even been raised about the integrity of India’s captain, MS Dhoni, who clearly made false statements to the Justice Mudgal Committee. That is there in black and white for all to see. Amid the cacophony of these developments, your silence has been deafening. This situation deserves more than “cricket will overcome this problem too” and “the matter is sub-judice”, as both you Rahul, and you, Anil, told the media on Thursday. Frankly, your comments so far have been disappointing. Surely you realise your sport needs you, needs the same men who stepped into the breach the last time fixing allegations rocked the sport a decade and a half ago. You were young pups then; you are elder statesmen now. It is your duty to protect and preserve cricket off the field just as you did on the field. That is the responsibility that comes with the privilege of playing for your country. Are you not hurt and outraged by what you have witnessed over the last three days? Did the observations of the Supreme Court on N Srinivasan and the BCCI stir no deep emotion within you? Do you think Dhoni owes his fans and his team-mates an explanation? Do you think Srinivasan should have stepped down when the court suggested he do so? Should the IPL go ahead? We don’t know the answers to any of these questions because you haven’t said anything. All of you played the game with unimpeachable integrity, which going by the court’s comments, currently seems to be in short supply. For you to speak out now, to say more than mere platitudes, to say you won’t stand for business as usual, to call for change, no, to demand it, would be impossible to ignore. This is also not about innocence or guilt. It is possible to see the harm that is being done to cricket without needing to pass judgment on any particular individual. Perhaps, like Ravi Shastri, who said the BCCI should not be criticised publicly by former players, you feel you should stay silent out a sense of loyalty. But this would be a fallacy of logic. It is the players that make the board, not the other way around. Your career and the esteem in which you are held by millions of fans around the world are down to your hard work, talent and dedication to the game of cricket. You are heroes because you performed when your country needed you to do so. It has nothing to do with the BCCI. In any case, Srinivasan does not equal the BCCI, even if it looks like it at the moment. The institution, and the game, are both bigger than any one person. Or two people. Besides even the Catholic church is not above reform, so why must the BCCI be treated like a holy cow? Sachin, in your farewell speech you said the players are only custodians of the game and they should treat it well. The same must surely apply to administrators. How can you be mute while such accusations are made about the game you love and which loved you back in equal measure? One word from you would mean exponentially more than a sermon from anyone else. You once stood up for Mumbai and said it belongs to all Indians. Will you not stand up for Indian cricket now and call for it be made safe from those who would harm it in the pursuit of their own ends? Sourav, you have never been scared of telling truth to power. It was you who united the team and took it to new heights after the match-fixing scandal in 2000. Does it not hurt you to see what is happening all over again? Do you not itch to lead off the field as you so brilliantly led on it? Yes, the BCCI under president N Srinivasan has done some good things for cricket. He has taken care of former players with his pension scheme. The board is richer than it has ever been. India Cements has also done much to sponsor individual players across sports, including you Rahul. But this is the Supreme Court of India speaking out, not some loner in his basement angrily venting on his blog because his favourite player was dropped. It is the highest court in the land and it has said some of the most damning things that have ever been said about the management of the sport all of you cherish. It is clear something is rotten in the state of Indian cricket. If you don’t speak up now, then when? Sincerely, A fan of Indian cricket