BCCI's dominance

BCCI's dominance in World Cricket: Can it be Justified?

These days there are talks everywhere about the ICC being dominated by the BCCI. BCCI has in past been accused of using its financial might to influence some of the decisions made by ICC. How often do we hear some of the other member countries and former cricketers accusing BCCI for its interference in some key cricketing issues, that is probably a reflection of the financial power of the world's richest cricketing board- but does that give them the license to dominate at global stage? 

BCCI is one of the ten full members of the International Cricket Council(ICC), but there's something about the board that makes it a bit above other member boards. That is evident in the global arena. In the famous sydney test match in January 2008, renowned umpire Steve Bucknor had made some controversial decisions which helped Australia win the match. The BCCI soon stepped in and Bucknor was replaced in the next match,  Bucknor blamed India's financial power for his ouster. In the same test there was another unwanted incident- the Bhajji-Symmo "Monkey-Gate". Harbhajan was banned for three years initially but it was lifted following a severe protest by the Indian team and the BCCI. BCCI has always been in the limelight, most of the time for the wrong reasons, the recent victim of its might being Daryl Harper. Harper a renowned umpire, was going to retire after the IND-WI series in 2011 but he retired from umpiring following some heavy criticism from India during the first test against the West Indies. 

        These are not the only incidents of BCCI's might, there are many more. One of them being BCCI's position on the DRS(Decision Review System). The rigid stand of BCCI on the DRS was heavily criticized by other ICC members and some former and current international players. BCCI has been firmly opposing the DRS system,although they have strong reasons to do that as India has most of the time been on the receiving end of the decisions,but the truth is simply that "Right Decisions" were made. BCCI has questioned the credibility of the technology used specially the Hawk-Eye system, which is regularly used in tennis. Paul Hawkings, the creator of the technology is of the opinion that it can be fully implemented in cricket and the probability of an error is pretty low. Using technology in cricket will bring about positive if any change in Cricket but many Cricket-Gurus just fail to understand why has BCCI been opposing the use of technology. That's a debatable issue but the point is, should ICC give that much importance to its opinion when 9 other full members are in favor of the use of DRS? After all BCCI is just one of the ten full member nations of the ICC. But then BCCI is special and ICC knows that, its a major source of its revenues and it simply can not afford to hamper relationship with the most wealthiest member. ICC's role on some key issues regarding BCCI has also been a subject of criticism by some well known cricketing personalities.   

 This brings us to the question again, "Is BCCI dominating ICC and the world cricket?" maybe yes but, according to some Cricket-Pundits there is nothing wrong in that. I'll tell you why.

 Every cricketing nation is always eager to host the Men in Blue on its soil. Not always for the "Cricketing benefits" but most of the time "Benefits through Cricket". The country which hosts the Indian team earns a bulk of money through Broadcasting rights, sponsorship etc. No team earns you more than the Indian team when you host them. One of the reason for the "World Cup 2007" not being a success was the early ouster of India in that tournament. It cost the ICC heavily. That was the primary reason for the change in format of the 2011 World Cup where teams had to play a minimum of six games before they could get knocked out of the championship. India went on to win the WC which not only earned ICC some big bucks but also the sponsors were benefited as well. Clearly Indian Team is a golden-goose , BCCI has every right to be a dominant figure at world stage. 

      Not to forget the Billion Dollar league-The IPL. Its the BCCI's favorite child. Not only it has improved the quality of Indian domestic players but it has helped some foreign players in cementing their place in their national sides.Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh,Ryan Harris are some players who were not that renowned or were out of their national teams before they played in IPL. Ipl has discovered a big bunch of Indian players as well with the likes of Yusuf Pathan,Rohit Sharma,Amit Mishra,Pragyan Ojha, Sourabh Tiwary and many more. The success of the league is such that its in the league of NBA and EPL as far as the profit margins are concerned. Everyone wants to be associated with it. The league has taken cricket to a next level and we should be proud of that.

      Apart from that the Indian team in past, has always been a victim of the "Double Standards" by ICC. Many incidents can be recalled where Indian or the Sub-continent players were punished by match referees and British or Aussie players were warned and let-off in more serious issues. They could not see a certain Lee or Jhonson or Andre Nel sledging Indian batsmen but when Sreesanth did the same to other teams, he was punished. Many more such examples come into my mind but important thing here is that ICC has had a soft spot for British or Aussie or a South African player. The Code of Conduct seems to be different for them and the Subcontinental players. So what is wrong in BCCI letting the world know "Who the real Daddy is". They are the one who will dictate terms. And however mighty the BCCI is Indian team has always been humble and played the game in the "Spirit of the game". Remember the recent Bell saga?

      So when you hear BCCI influencing ICC, just give it a second thought rather than blaming the board straightway. If it was CA(Cricket Australia) or ECB(England Cricket Board) in place of BCCI, the things would have been much worse. BCCI can dictate its own terms make no mistake about it and as long as it does not cross the border its fine as well. The Dominance of BCCI can certainly be justified. The other nations should digest the fact that BCCI is the real power in World Cricket, and start living with this fact.The future looks bright for the Indian cricket, the future looks bright for the World Cricket with BCCI playing a key role in that.