Column | 'Pitchside' - a ringside view of Indian cricket from 1990 to 2010

Cricket is a passion in India, with the heightened levels of involvement of the lay public with this game taking it close to the status of a religion. The matches played by the national side are followed by millions, the players are revered and feted and raised to the status of idols and icons and there is a humungous amount of money invested in this sport. It is even a symbol of unity in a vast and diverse country, with its pluralities and heterogeneities. Despite the many factors that work against its success, cricket has taken firm roots across the length and breadth of India and emerged as the most popular sporting activity. It was this phenomenon that prompted Ashis Nandy, the renowned sports psychologist, to make the pithy remark, “cricket is an Indian game discovered accidentally by the British”.

It cannot be denied that one of the main factors behind the increasing popularity of the game and the success of the national side is the organisational capability of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the agency responsible for conduct of this sport in the country. The BCCI ensured that cricket did not remain a colonial legacy confined erstwhile princely states and metros but spread to all nooks and corners of India. This, along with the setting up of quality infrastructure and provision of coaching facilities in small towns and mofussil areas, led to the development of a huge talent pool that laid the foundation for the national side moving to the pole position in all versions of the game. In a country where sports administrators have not crowned themselves with glory, the BCCI remains an honourable exception as it has been served well by a plethora of committed officials hailing from fields as diverse as politics, bureaucracy and business.

However, this is not to say that the BCCI has been a model organisation and kept itself above politicking and favouritism. Elections to this body often witness intense fights but this has not prevented the victors and the vanquished from working together once the heat of the polls died down. The activities of the BCCI has been subjected to severe media scrutiny on many an occasion and even the Supreme Court had intervened once. However, the realisation that this organisation had worked wonders for the game and all those related to its conduct prevented any sustained action that could undermine this body. Further, the manner in which the BCCI managed its finances diligently to grow into a rich body, besides becoming the financial powerhouse of international cricket won it all round appreciation and plaudits.

The BCCI’s Achilles heel has been the cover of opaqueness that masks its decision making process, something that intrigues most observers. For many decades, and till the early years of the present century, this organisation used to function out of a dingy two-room office located behind the stands of Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai that had long ceased hosting international matches. John Wright, who visited this headquarters of the richest cricket administration in the world, called it the living example of “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. Two of the 20-odd member associations who had voting rights in this elite body till recently did not have any cricketing team worth mention nor did they take part in the national championship. At the same time, the BCCI did not have any qualms about disqualifying associations who had been part of it for years, without bating an eyelid. The machinations on the eve of elections and shift of marginal votes during the actual polls carried with it so much excitement and suspense as to be straight out of the pages of a Gerald Seymour novel.

For all the above reasons, a book written by a person who has intimate knowledge about the functioning of the body and been involved in the decision making process should make interesting reading for those following the fortunes of about this organisation. This is all the more so as neither the political heavyweights nor the business honchos who held senior positions in the BCCI chose to pen their memoirs. Hence the news about release of a book by Amrit Mathur, who was associated with the game as a player, first-class umpire, BCCI official and manager of national sides made followers of the game sit up and take notice. For the record, Mathur continues to be involved with cricket administration even at present as an official attached to one of the franchisees of Indian Premier League (IPL).

Mathur can be termed as the ultimate insider of Indian cricket. An officer of one the Group A services of Indian Railways, he boasted of an excellent pedigree and a degree from St Stephens College, Delhi, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Kirti Azad, Arun Lal, Praveen Oberoi etc. Mathur was spotted by the late Madhavrao Scindia, then Railways Minister, who took a fancy for this urbane, English speaking, cricket crazy officer. Scindia appointed him as the head of Railway Sports Board, a post normally held by an officer who had put in many years of service, at a very early age. This ensured Mathur entry into the meeting rooms of almost all bodies administering sports in the country, including the BCCI.

It was at Scindia’s insistence that Mathur was appointed as the manager of the national side that toured South Africa in 1992. This was the first time that India was sending a side to play cricket in South Africa, who were in the process of dismantling apartheid. Scindia felt that the side required the services of a seasoned bureaucrat to manage its affairs given the historic nature of the occasion. To be fair, Mathur rose to the challenges of the job and did extremely well, winning accolades from media on both sides. He was Scindia’s nominee for a place in the joint committee for organising the 1996 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup, which was co-hosted by India Pakistan and Sri Lanka. His nomination to this committee when many more senior officials of the BCCI, including its then secretary, were left out created considerable amount of heartburn amongst the grandees of this organisation. But Scindia was a serving Union Minister at that point of time and his will triumphed!

It is to Mathur’s credit that he equipped him well in all the responsibilities that came his way. The untimely demise of Scindia in September, 2001 deprived him of the services of his patron but Mathur had by then become a familiar figure amongst the BCCI officialdom. He was media manager of the national side during the 2003 ICC World Cup as well for the tours of England in 2002 and Pakistan in 2004.

One of the highlights of this book is the thoughts penned by the author about the future of cricket. Mathur believes strongly that T20 leagues such as the IPL offers the way forward and other forms of cricket will diminish in importance, which is happening in a gradual manner. He also postulates that franchisees and organisers of the T20 leagues will become more powerful in the years ahead and even decide the course of international matches, including tours and fixtures, thus pushing the cricket boards to the sidelines. He points out that this has already started happening in India despite the BCCI maintaining a stranglehold over the conduct of the game, including owning the IPL. The diminishing importance of selection committee, both at the national and state levels, is one instance of this development. Mathur argues that the ICC and cricket boards will have a role only in the conduct of the World Cup and a limited number of Test matches. A frightening prophesy indeed for lovers of the game belonging to the earlier generation, but not an unlikely one, given the way things are unfolding in some parts of the cricketing world.

Mathur’s book gives a ringside view of the events that he was privy to observe at close quarters. The best parts are the accounts of the visits to South Africa in 1992 and 2003, while account of the happenings in the team during the tours of England and Pakistan make interesting reading. He has also presented pen pictures of major figures who influenced Indians cricket during the two decades from 1990 till 2010, both players and administrators. This list includes not only the likes of Sunil Gavaskarm Sourav Ganguly, Scindia and Jagmohan Dalmia, but also the infamous Lalit Modi, with whom the author shared a good working relationship. Blessed with good command over the language, Mathur has penned the account of his journey through the board rooms of Indian cricket in an engaging manner. The book is peppered with anecdotes and is a page turner.

However, it must also be stated that while what Mathur reveals makes absorbing reading, what he conceals is more vital. He has not touched on the topic of match-fixing, the controversy regarding which erupted when he was a part of the BCCI. Similarly, he has chosen to be silent on the issue of conflict of interest that bogged down the BCCI and IPL for a considerable length of time. But, as he himself stated during an interaction with this columnist, he had written only about matters and events that we was privy to or witnessed at close hand.

In conclusion, “Pitchside” offers a view from the Presidential Box of the developments on and off the Indian cricket field during the two decades since 1990 when the game underwent a huge transformation in our country. This book will add lustre and value to the library of cricket aficionados and lovers of the game in India.

(The author is a former international cricket umpire and a senior bureaucrat)