'The BCCI isn't arrogant, we have our feet on the ground'

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. [caption id=“attachment_11906” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Prof. Ratnakar Shetty is the Board’s Chief Administrative Officer. AFP”] [/caption] “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. And cricket these days is all about the telecast rights. That’s what every board around the world wants and they also realise that the money is where India is. “If we just look back a little on the set-up, whatever financial position we are enjoying today is only because of the successful exploitation of the telecast rights. Till around 1990, there was no income earned by the board,” said Shetty. “Only after the Hero Cup did BCCI start marketing the telecast rights and that’s when we started making money. Sometimes, when I read the minutes of the board meetings in the early 90s, it is quite interesting. Now, we hold our meetings in five-star hotels but in the early days, powerful industrialists who were then in charge of the board, would often hold meetings in their houses because we couldn’t afford hotels.” The change truly began in 2005, when Sharad Pawar took a decision to professionalise the set-up. By 2006, the BCCI moved to the Wankhede and the administrative set-up was changed – A CAO was appointed, as were general manager (cricket), media relations manager and more – things the BCCI had never done before. It even has a succession plan now. The result was welfare schemes for the former cricketers. Even now, the BCCI spends around Rs 16 crore a year on these schemes ensuring that former cricketers have some sort of financial security. The women’s wing was brought under BCCI and the cricket committee took the decision to create infrastructure at all levels. “Most of the times, the state associations would just build stadiums. But we told them that just one international stadium is enough. So everyone was asked to create playgrounds. They used to get Rs 4 crore as infrastructure subsidy, that is now Rs 50 crore (one time). As a result, a lot of grounds are now available where children can go and play,” said Shetty. As the BCCI continued to become professional, it realised that there was so much more that could be done. In 2008, for instance, the BCCI took a decision that every association must have its own cricket academy –with pool, coaches, and preferably indoor facilities. Today, almost 22 states have managed to do that. The cricket infrastructure in the country is superb and much, much better than what is available for any other sport. So is taking up cricket easy? Sure it is. The BCCI is also going to have its own National Cricket Academy. Till this point, the NCA was housed on the premises of the KSCA. But now the BCCI has bought 50 acres of land in Bangalore itself. The plan is to have residential sections for both boys and girls, full rehabilitation facilities and a centre for research on injuries. They’ve even bought software from a New Zealand company that will help them keep track of every injury that any player, domestic or international gets. But is going professional working as it was supposed to? “When the IPL was adopted by the BCCI, we were not sure how well it would do. At the board, it is more of a decentralised system. As CAO I am given a job and expected to do it. And I have to deliver. When I do that job, I have to keep in mind that it is the institution that is more important. In a de-centralised institution, the individual needs to always remember that the institution is important. We’ve learned from that experience and now much better placed to handle such eventualities.” “Similarly, selectors (who are now paid) are now picked by the board from a list of probables. They now have to attend a lot of international and domestic matches. How much time they can devote to the job is as important as the number of international matches they played. It’s a full time job; it’s not that they just have to turn up for the meetings,” said Shetty. With so much success, is it easy to keep feet on the ground? We’ve already seen examples of officials getting drunk on the potent mixture of power and money. “Only the media feels that we used our financial clout to arm-twist people and are arrogant. I think every person in the BCCI has their feet firmly on the ground. They are firm in taking decisions, and once the decision is taken, they stick to it. As far as administration is concerned, I think we have had the best of administration. I don’t think ever, the BCCI has misused its position in any respect.” But don’t other boards look at the BCCI in a different way now. Is there fear in that look too? Do you get that feeling when you attend meetings at the ICC? The popular perception remains that the BCCI can get ICC to do whatever it wants. “There was a time when maybe the position of the Indian Board was looked at differently. However, if you have the right kind of people representing you at the ICC, it makes a big difference. The current members have ensured that all the boards are on an equal footing and that most of the decisions are unanimous.” But what about the perception that the BCCI is eating up the space for other sports as well? Do you feel it’s justified considering how cricket dominates the market? “Today everyone feels only cricket is getting money in. But what stopped other games from going out and reaching out to people? What stopped them from approaching AIR and DD? We are a democratic body which holds elections regularly and we have a good constitution which does not allow people to continue for years together. That helps  getting new vision. I think only cricket did all the right things early and we are enjoying the success that was created by that early thrust.”