Plays of the day from the third ODI between Zimbabwe and India in Harare

Karthik Krishnaswamy15-Jun-2016 ball, keepingStanding up to the stumps, MS Dhoni isn’t just a conjuror of quicksilver stumpings and unorthodox, football-style stops. He’s also a fount of wisdom for his young spinners, his nasally drawled instructions available to the wider public thanks to the magic of the stump mic. On Wednesday, the world came to know that ‘Bapu’ isn’t just Ravindra Jadeja’s nickname, and that he shares it with that other left-arm-spinning allrounder from Gujarat, Axar Patel.” [That is a bad ball, Bapu],” Dhoni called out, when Vusi Sibanda whipped a leg-stumpish delivery to midwicket in Axar’s sixth over.Axar’s next ball was far from . It drifted in, and turned sharply to take Sibanda’s edge as he pressed forward to defend. It barely lost pace after taking the edge, and Dhoni’s hands were just a touch slow behind the wicket, for once. The ball hit the edge of his glove and ran away in the direction of third man.The capitulationIn the second ODI, Zimbabwe had been bowled out for 126, having been 106 for 3 at one point. Now, in the third ODI, Zimbabwe were in a similar position: 104 for 3 in the 33rd over. Surely they wouldn’t collapse again?Jasprit Bumrah ran in, and for what seemed the thousandth time in his spell, got the ball to nip back sharply from just back of a length. Timycen Maruma’s bat came down at an angle, and just a touch late, as he looked to defend from the crease, and before he knew it the ball had cannoned off his inside edge and into the stumps. Bumrah’s next ball straightened from the corridor: Elton Chigumbura nicked it, and he was out for his second successive golden duck. That was the end of Bumrah’s over.Now Malcolm Waller dabbed Axar to the left of cover point, and set off. It seemed a safe enough single, given KL Rahul had to run around the ball to be able to throw with his right arm. Richmond Mutumbami, however, didn’t think so, and didn’t move from the non-striker’s end. Waller was three-fourths of the way down the pitch when he turned. He had no chance of making it back.Axar’s next ball was his most dangerous delivery. The arm ball headed towards middle stump. Graeme Cremer came forward to defend, and played for turn. The ball hit his pad, Axar barely had to appeal, and Zimbabwe had lost four wickets in four balls.Kulkarni channels Cruyff“If you want to play quicker you can start running faster,” Johan Cruyff, the former Netherlands football international, once said, “but it’s the ball that decides the speed of the game.” Football for him was about vision and technique rather than lung-busting athleticism.Dhawal Kulkarni may or may not be a fan of Cruyff’s footballing philosophies, but he certainly put this one to brilliant use in the 43rd over of Zimbabwe’s innings. Donald Tiripano bunted the ball a short distance into the off side, and Neville Madziva sprang out of the crease at the other end. Tiripano hesitated before responding to his partner’s call. Kulkarni didn’t run full-tilt to the ball – he merely jogged towards it. He didn’t try to kick it at the stumps at the batsman’s end – he knew Madziva would make his crease in time. Instead, he picked it up, turned around, took careful aim, and fired a rocket throw that hit the base of the stumps at the bowler’s end, with Tiripano a foot short of safety. Talk about letting the ball do the work.Madziva’s towel trickOff-stump line, perfect length, the merest hint of away movement to take the edge. The first ball of Madziva’s second over could have been an absolute beauty, had it been recorded in the scorecard. But when Madziva leaped into his delivery stride, his towel had fallen out of his waistband, and the sight distracted Rahul enough for him to back away, direct the umpire’s attention to the errant piece of cloth, and only offer a shot as a formality. Ian Gould signalled dead ball, and Madziva had to start his over all over again.

The BCCI’s decision of filing a review petition against the Supreme Court ruling could either be seen as a desparate gamble or an astute strategy. Either way, we are some way from hearing the last of this case

Sidharth Monga09-Aug-2016There is a certain irony about BCCI reviewing a decision. But like in the case of the Decision Review System that it opposes, filing a review petition against the reforms recommended by the Lodha Committee, and mandated by the Supreme Court, this can be seen as a desperate late review to waste minutes while trying to save a Test in dying light. Or perhaps there is a bigger gambit.On the face of it, a review petition is the only legal recourse available to the BCCI. However, for it to have a chance to succeed, its legal team will have to persuade the same set of judges – in this case the Chief Justice of India TS Thakur and a judge he nominates because his partner in this case, Ibrahim Kalifullah, has retired – of an apparent error in their judgment. And if they choose to admit the petition, it will be heard in private.

What is a review petition?
A review petition is the recourse available to aggrieved parties to appeal against binding Supreme Court judgements based on an apparent error. In this case, Markandey Katju has argued on behalf of the BCCI that the Supreme Court has exceeded its judicial powers and assumed legislative powers in restructuring the BCCI.
Who is Markandey Katju?
Katju is a former Supreme Court judge and an outspoken critic of the Indian judiciary. He has previously been in disagreement with Justice RM Lodha.
Who will hear the petition?
It usually goes back to the same judges who hear it in private before giving it a public hearing if there is merit to it. In this case, though, Justice Imbrahim Kalifullah has retired so Justice TS Thakur will be joined by a replacement.
Who will choose Kalifullah’s replacement?
Thakur, by the virtue of being the Chief Justice of India.
By when can the petition be filed?
Within a month of the signed judgement being issued to the parties.
Does Katju’s argument have merit?
Legal experts say that while the court might be assuming legislative powers, this is hardly without precedent. The most popular such high-profile case was when the Supreme Court laid down the guidelines for sexual harassment cases when no such law existed in India.
What if the review petition is not accepted?
In extreme cases the Supreme Court may consider a curative petition, which is not a constitutional right but a mechanism introduced by the Supreme Court to guard against gross miscarriage of justice. It can be filed by persons who are not party to proceedings or who haven’t been heard.

The BCCI, it is said, has been emboldened by the legal advice it has received from former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, who, in an extraordinary offensive, has called the Supreme Court’s decision “unconstitutional and illegal”. He has accused the Supreme Court of setting a bad precedent by assuming legislative powers in this case, or practising in “judicial activism” as it is known in legal circles.Legal experts, however, point out this is not the first time the judiciary has ventured into drafting legislation, more popularly with the drafting of Visakha, a set of guidelines in cases of sexual harassment in India because at that time there was no such law in India.As matters stand, the BCCI is poised to take Katju’s advice and miss the August 9 meeting with the Lodha Committee. That, and hiring Katju is being seen in legal circles as tantamount to waving the red rag to the judiciary for there is history between him and Justice RM Lodha. Katju has been in recent times an outspoken critic of the Indian judiciary. After taking over the chairmanship of the press council, he had public issues with Lodha, who recommended a two-year cooling-off period for retired judges before they took up government assignments.If this is a delaying tactic – Kalifullah has already retired, and Thakur is due to depart in January 2017 – legal experts believe there is far too much time left to delay through this final review. This review petition will have to be filed by August 18 or thereabouts, and the BCCI will still have to kill another five months if they are hoping for a change of heart from the new chief justice after Thakur.Justics JS Khehar is in line to succeed Thakur and he was ‪part of the two-man bench before whom the BCCI had challenged the decision of the Bombay High Court‬ about the fact that due legal processes had not been followed in investigating the IPL 2013 corruption case.However, seen from another angle, it can be argued that there is little to lose from taking the matter further for the current BCCI dispensation because a majority of them stand to lose positions either immediately or after the current term is over if two major recommendations – taking out administrators who are over 70 and those who have already served nine years – come in to effect. They may as well give it every desperate shot.Yet there is another school of thought that gives the BCCI more credit than just gambling desperately. The board, with a member of parliament from the ruling party (the BJP) as its head and the union finance minister widely believed to be its godfather, enjoys loyalties in the parliament that cuts across party lines, which is believed to be the BCCI’s trump card.It is believed that powers higher than the BCCI office bearers are calling the shots now; in fact some BCCI members have anonymously questioned the wisdom of pitting a former Supreme Court judge against the Chief Justice of India. However, there is possibility of cold logic and an elaborate game plan behind this. Filing the review petition, even if it is not likely to be entertained as Katju has himself written in his blog, is to follow the formalities and also buy time. In Katju they have a man who will publicly say what they want to say but with the authority of a former Supreme Court judge. Also, during the process there will be unnamed BCCI sources telling the media how the legal tussle is hurting the organisation of cricket matches in order to gain more sympathy.While all this serves as a distraction, the parliament could move to clear the long-pending Sports Bill which was originally brought in as a means to rein in errant sports federations, offer regulations regarding age (60) and tenure of officials much like the Lodha regulations. The Sports Bill was being held up due to political opposition for the last four years, but the Lodha report may give it life again, even if in a slightly diluted form, reducing age and tenure limitationsand making it an overarching piece of legislation which the BCCI can adhere to and extricate themselves out of the Lodha report’s far tougher regulations.On paper, political will should be easy to garner because the BCCI has members across political parties, but if this is the BCCI plan, it will not be as rosy as it sounds. For starters it might have to agree to fall under the Right to Information Act (RTI), an integral part of the Sports Bill that the BCCI has avoided. Moreover, legal experts believe that while the parliament can pass a bill that overrules the Supreme Court judgement, there has to be a sound legal foundation for it; the only purpose of the bill cannot be to counter a recent Supreme Court judgement.If this is indeed the plan, the BCCI will have to execute it to perfection to get over all possible objections and public outrage against it, but even if such a bill does get cleared to counter the Lodha Committee, all it will take is a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) from any Indian citizen to take the matter back to the judiciary. Either way it is safe to say that we are some way from hearing the last of this case.

Three weeks ago, Mehedi Hasan was the best-kept secret in Bangladesh’s spin-bowling ranks. Nineteen historic wickets later, he’s a national hero

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur30-Oct-2016There’s a story from Mehedi Hasan’s fledgling first-class career that sums up his enthusiasm to learn. In one of his early matches for Khulna Division, he endured a wicketless session and, after some of the seniors had told him to bowl better, he had disappeared from the dressing room.Moments later, Abdur Razzak who had also left the dressing room to get ready for the next session of play, saw Mehedi bowling in the nets nearby. Before Razzak could say anything, Mehedi asked him: “Bhai, can you have a look this way? Am I bowling fine now?”The eagerness to absorb every bit of experience around him has remained with Mehedi in his early days in the senior team. Coach Chandika Hathurusingha said that his passion had made him stand out.”He is an exceptional talent,” said Hathurusingha. “He is keen to do well, which is big for me. He has enthusiasm in the game. He is always sitting next to me or the other coaches in the dressing room, listening to every word that we are saying. He is very keen to learn.”There was never any doubt in the team management’s mind that they had found themselves an exceptional talent – in fact, in an echo of Australia’s unveiling of Shane Warne on the 1993 Ashes tour, Bangladesh’s captain Mushfiqur Rahim admitted that they had deliberately omitted Mehedi for the Afghanistan ODIs last month to keep him as a secret from England.”We knew what type of player he is,” said Mushfiqur. “We wanted him to play against England rather than Afghanistan so that they don’t know anything about him.”It is all his credit that he did so well. There’s a lot to learn from him, and I know he has the calibre to do well in the future,” he said.Mehedi was certainly the surprise package that England couldn’t deal with. He picked up 19 wickets in his maiden Test series, beating Enamul Haque jnr’s 11-year old record of 18 wickets in two Tests against Zimbabwe in 2004-05 which resulted in Bangladesh’s first Test series win.Mehedi was phenomenal in both Tests, starting off with a six-wicket haul at Chittagong on his first day of Test cricket.His maiden Test wicket said big things about Mehedi’s ability to absorb the information around him. When Mushfiqur told his bowlers to bowl at the stumps on the turning Chittagong pitch, Mehedi did exactly that, drawing Ben Duckett into a stroke but getting the ball to turn past him sharply.He took six more wickets in that game, while in Dhaka, he ran through England in the first innings by doing a similar job of pitching his offbreaks right up to the batsman at decent pace. He bowled with loop to the left-handers, in particular, but accuracy was his main weapon, especially when armed with the new ball. His arm ball was a constant menace, even though he himself admitted he doesn’t know how it came out.His rise to national stardom has been dizzyingly quick, but Mehedi said that after the Under-19 World Cup ended in February this year, he was ready for the call.”I always wanted to do well whenever I got the opportunity. I didn’t really think it would be this series. It could have been any time in the next year or two. I wanted to come into the national team with a strong mentality so that I could perform well,” he said.But it is easy to forget that, even three weeks ago, he was just a first-class cricketer who had graduated from the age-group scene. Almost overnight he seems established alongside the big names of the Bangladesh team, but Mehedi has not stopped learning either.”I watch Shakib closely, he is such a brilliant bowler. I try to adopt what he is doing,” said Mehedi.It is easy to compare him with offspinners like Sohag Gazi and Naimur Rahman, who also started their Test careers very well. Both faded away fast not only because of their own lack of performance, but also due to Bangladesh’s immense dependence on left-arm spin.Mehedi doesn’t have trouble with his bowling action, and seems to have a mature approach to his game. It is still early days for him but, even from this point, he shouldn’t be judged on his first Test series forever – neither should anyone expect him to be this effective on New Zealand’s pitches in January.He should be treated more like Mustafizur Rahman than a normal Bangladeshi offspinner. If he is so keen to learn his art, give him a bigger classroom and let him learn his way to the top.

There was a time when teams hid their least athletic fielders by the rope. Today, that part of the field witnesses circus-level acrobatics, for which players train in earnest

Crispin Andrews20-Aug-2016In a Test in Christchurch in January 1992, Derek Pringle chased a ball out towards the boundary rope, lumbering as fast as his ample 6ft 4in frame would allow. The rope loomed as the 33-year-old Pringle finally caught up with the ball and stuck out a cursory boot as the ball completed its inevitable journey over the boundary. “That’s a bit of a feeble effort,” one of the New Zealand commentators said.Fourteen years later, at one point in a one-day international on the same ground, West Indian batsman Dwayne Smith smashed New Zealand spinner Jeetan Patel into the crowd. Nathan Astle, 5ft 10in and 34 years old, was fielding on the boundary. As the ball dropped, it looked as if it would just about make it over Astle and the rope. Then Astle did something that back then was considered to be amazing.He jumped vertically, and while in the air, only a few centimetres from the boundary, he stretched out his right hand behind him, took the catch one-handed and then landed just inside the rope. Steadying himself for a split second, Astle then sprang off towards Patel and his team-mates to celebrate the wicket.During post-match interviews, New Zealand coach John Bracewell said that Astle’s catch probably secured the win. He called the catch “sublime in judgement and skill”.Ten years on, modern boundary fielding makes Astle’s effort look rather ordinary. The rise of T20 has seen many more batsmen trying to hit many more sixes on much smaller grounds.Back in the day, boundary fielders were usually either bowlers having a rest between overs or spells, or the less mobile members of the side, or both.
If the ball went straight to one of these players, they’d usually stop it. If not, at least there was someone out there to get the ball back from the crowd. Today every run counts and teams send their best fielders out to the boundary, not just to save runs but also to take wickets.

“Straight down the ground, the ball comes in more of an arc. The players then have to read the length of the ball, get into an early position on the boundary rope, then adjust to wherever the ball is going to land”Rich Pyrah, Yorkshire coach

Over the past few years, the likes of Trent Boult, Kieron Pollard, Eoin Morgan, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers have all taken the kind of spectacular boundary-line catches that are increasingly common in the game.In 2014, in a T20I in Dominica, West Indies had 126 for 3 in 17 overs and were in need of quick runs to set New Zealand a decent target. Corey Anderson sent down a high-bouncing half-tracker to Pollard, who got into a bit of a tangle while pulling it, but that massive bat of his still sent the ball out towards the midwicket boundary. Boult was out there a few metres in from the rope. He took a few steps backwards and flung out his right hand, his weaker hand, and caught the ball over his shoulder.Great catch, but it didn’t finish there. Boult realised that his momentum was taking him over the boundary rope. In a flash he threw the ball up in the air, stumbled over the rope, but rather than falling flat on his face, Boult sprang back over the rope, back onto the field, dived to his left and caught the ball two-handed before either he or the ball had touched the ground. Cue standing ovations, roars from the crowd, on-field celebrations, and a barrage of superlatives from the commentary box.Pollard himself has taken a few boundary-line screamers. Playing for Mumbai Indians in the 2014 IPL, he did to Rajasthan Royals’ Kevon Cooper what Boult did to him, except, Pollard threw the ball a bit too far infield and so had to complete the catch with a full-length forward dive.Former Surrey and England allrounder Adam Hollioake, who played the first two years of domestic T20 in England before he retired, believes that boundary fielding standards have improved in recent years out of necessity.Soumya Sarkar leans over to the boundary rope to complete a catch•AFP”If someone did anything like that back when T20 started, it would be seen as a one-in-a-million effort,” Hollioake says. “Now cricketers take catches like this as a matter of course because that’s what the modern game demands.”Former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams, who played in the 1990s and has coached Kent since 2012, says that there’s a practical reason why boundary catching has improved in recent years. “When we played, the boundary rope was tight against the wall or the fence. There was no room to do this sort of thing. Now the rope is four or five yards in.”As a result, fielders no longer give up on the ball when they are near the boundary. “Thirty-five years ago, someone like Derek Randall used to throw himself around a lot, but he was considered unusually athletic,” says Julien Fountain, a specialist fielding coach who has worked with Pakistan, West Indies and England. “Now you see cricketers all over the world throwing themselves around.”To the casual observer, these catches might look like an instinctive blur of arms and legs, something only a super-fit fielder might try. However, like any other cricketing skill, they can be performed by a cricketer who has the right combination of technique, natural ability and fitness.Look at any of the slow-motion replays and you’ll see the same thing. The catcher tracks the ball from the bat, through the air, towards him and then into his hand. As soon as the catch is safely taken, or parried up, he looks to the ground, checks to see whether he’s on or off the field, then steadies himself and moves into the position needed to complete the catch. All this within a second or two.

“In 1989, when I started playing, if you missed one, it was ‘well tried.’ By the end of my career in 2007, if you didn’t dive properly with the right technique, people were having a go at you”Adam Hollioake

“That’s the same skills you need to field in the slips, at backward point, anywhere on the field,” Fountain says. “Combine those with ground fielding and catching skills and you have the ideal fielder for modern-day cricket.”During a 2014 T20 Blast game between Yorkshire and Lancashire, Lancashire batsman Tom Smith skied a shot straight back over the bowler’s head. Adam Lyth, rushing to his left from long-off, leapt into the air and clawed the ball back from over the boundary edge before it landed. His team-mate Aaron Finch, who had run across from long-on, then took a simple catch. A few weeks later, the two combined again against Leicestershire.Yorkshire players have been doubling up around the boundary rope for a while now. Their coach Rich Pyrah confirmed that his players practise boundary catching regularly in twos. One fielder stands at long-off, the other at long-on or at deep square and deep midwicket. Pyrah, standing as close as he can to the stumps out in the middle, hits the ball hard with two hands into the gap between the two fielders. Depending on where the ball ends up, players have to decide whether to catch the ball by themselves or with their team-mate.During these practice sessions, Pyrah is keen to replicate the speed of the ball from the bat that a player would get in a match. “The trajectory is different if you’re fielding deep-backward square than if you’re at long-on and long-off. It comes harder and flatter and faster. Straight down the ground, the ball comes in more of an arc. The players then have to read the length of the ball, get into an early position on the boundary rope, then adjust to wherever the ball is going to land.”Fountain says that to take boundary catches, players will need to track the ball, reposition themselves, and if necessary, reposition again after first contact with the ball. Fountain helps his players practise this by having the ball bounce off an object, maybe a handheld boxing pad, which creates a deviation off the object to a secondary fielder. Or by hitting the ball over a player’s shoulder, who then has to adapt on the move.These days teams routinely practise catching technique at the boundary•AFPYorkshire also practise safe landings indoors during the close season. Coaches set up crash mats and throw a ball over the player’s head. “A player has to be brave and land on the full length of their back, so it takes the impact,” says Pyrah.Pyrah adds that players used to struggle with these catches because they wanted to land with their hands on the ground to cushion their fall. The trouble is, when a player’s hands are free and facing upwards, he can use them to throw the ball up. He won’t have time if his hands are facing downwards, ready to brace to take his weight. Pyrah thinks that a player needs to feel secure that if he loses balance during one of these manoeuvres and falls but lands properly, he will be okay.Fountain is not a fan of using big crash mats during practice. He thinks there should be an element of realism in the training. “A player will think differently and use their body differently if they know there’s a mat under them,” he says. “On a hard surface, like a field, a player will have to brace themselves, and they need to get used to that during practice.”Boundary fielders need to make decisions quickly – whether to catch, parry upwards, involve someone else, which requires communication; or whether to just block the ball from going for six. And they won’t know exactly what to do until the ball is almost upon them. Pyrah gets the Yorkshire players to practise these catches under pressure. “We’ll shout to them, distract them however we can.”It’s not all planning, though. There’s still a level of instinctive brilliance to the sort of catches that Lyth and Finch, Boult, Pollard and Maxwell have been taking.Adams explains that his Kent team practises a lot of high stuff in and around the rope area. “Then, when the opportunity arises, there are players who have it in them to do special stuff,” he says.

“A player will think differently and use their body differently if they know there’s a mat under them. On a hard surface, like a field, a player will have to brace themselves, and they need to get used to that during practice”Julien Fountain, fielding coach

Adams has no doubt that outfielding standards have definitely improved from when he played in the 1990s. “You’ve always had Jonty Rhodes, Ricky Ponting and Herschelle Gibbs, a few as good as that, but now most players are top fielders.”Back then, international teams felt they could carry the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Devon Malcolm and Phil Tufnell in the field as long as the player was scoring runs or taking wickets. “In 1989 when I started playing, people hardly even dived,” says Hollioake. “If you missed one, it was ‘Well tried.’ By the end of my career, in 2007, if you didn’t dive properly with the right technique, people were having a go at you.”Fountain doesn’t think that players today are necessarily more skilled or athletic than their predecessors. It’s just that higher fielding standards are now expected, and this drives players towards ever greater things. “Whatever is the standard of the day is where people aspire to be.”Pyrah agrees that players train harder today. “Players will throw themselves around in the field and not worry about the consequences. It’s no surprise they can do things we couldn’t in the past.”However spectacular some of today’s fielding might look, though, not everything about fielding has improved during the modern era, particularly in Test cricket. It has been a while since there has been an international wicketkeeper as good as Alan Knott or Ian Healy. Earlier this year, former Australia captain Ian Chappell complained about the decline of slip catching standardsDuring the Edgbaston Test this summer, when Mohammed Hafeez dropped Joe Root off Rahat Ali, it was the ninth time a Pakistan player had shelled a catch in the series. England had also dropped nine by that time. That’s 18 dropped catches in just three Tests.Inzamam and Cowdrey might not have been able to run out to the boundary rope, let alone dive once they got there, but they could safely catch the ball in the slips. And let’s not forget that in a Test match, it’s behind the stumps, not on the boundary, that you’re most likely to get the likes of Root, De Villiers and Kohli out.

Shiv Sunder Das recalls being excited about playing against Test players on his debut as a 17-year-old

Shiv Sunder Das08-Dec-2016Madhya Pradesh v Orissa, Pre-quarterfinal, Indore, 1993-94Making my Ranji Trophy debut was a dream come true because as a child, I always wanted to start with first-class cricket. I had just finished playing Under-19 cricket and had had a good season. I scored a double-hundred, two centuries and an 80. On the basis of those performances, I was selected for the Ranji Trophy that year.I had previously captained the U-17 Indian team that went to England and had also represented India at the U-19 level. That year was massive for me because I was batting really well. The selectors told me that they were keeping a close eye on me and asked me to continue doing well. Luckily, that year, I got the chance.I was training with the school team when I got the news. Amiya Ray, who was my senior, congratulated me, saying I had been selected. I was very excited as I was hoping I would get through that year in Ranji Trophy. Ranjib Biswal was the captain at the time and he gave me the cap. It was a great feeling. Both Ranjib and Amiya were from my club and I had been training with them for a long time.More than nervous, I’d say I was excited. My captain said it’s a bit different from U-19 but asked me not to change anything and just enjoy the four days, so I just trusted my technique and ability. I had the confidence because I knew even if I failed, the management was going to back me.When I walked out to bat, there were three slips, a gully and a short leg. I don’t think they sledged me, but when you are making your debut at 17 or 18, there will obviously be a lot of noise around. It was just a matter of taking that out of your mind and focusing on the ball; I had been through a similar phase in the U-19s as well. So I had to focus really well for the first 10-15 balls. Once you get through that phase, you know what to expect from the bowlers and how the wicket is behaving. The outfield was barren and really quick, so I knew once I timed the ball, it would race away to the boundary. All I had to worry about was spending time at the wicket.I remember Narendra Hirwani was playing for Madhya Pradesh and I was excited to play against a Test player. They had an experienced attack that had been doing well all season. At the Ranji level, bowlers hit consistent lines and good areas, so it was a matter of playing them out.I was batting well before I got out in the first innings. It was a short ball, outside off-stump, and I tried to play a backfoot drive to a spinner. The ball spun a bit and I edged to the slips. It was not a ball to get out to. I was disappointed not to get runs because the pitch was really good. A couple of seniors came up to me and said there is nothing to worry about.But, luckily, I did really well in the second innings. The key was to get a good start again and break down the innings into installments of 10 runs. I remember batting with Sushil Kumar, who was a very jolly guy. He was cracking jokes and calmed me down a lot. After crossing 15-20 runs, I knew if I stayed around for two-three more hours, given that it was quite humid and hot, the bowlers weren’t going to bowl long spells.When I scored my 98th run, they brought the field up. There was a forward short leg, a backward short leg and a silly point. The ball I got out to was well outside off stump. I offered my pad, but it came back in before brushing the flap and lobbed onto my stump. I was shattered to have missed out on the century. But I told myself that I had at least got to bat these many number of overs and had played well.I could not make the next match (quarterfinal against Maharashtra) as I had to appear for my exams. Those days, the Ranji Trophy was a big deal for us and getting into the side and competing against the best players in India was a big deal. And I was lucky to have had the great senior players of our side around — Ranjib, Amiya, Prasant Mohapatra – when it happened. To get an opportunity that early in my career helped me a lot.

As a fast bowler you need a big heart to sustain your career in Sri Lanka, so perhaps it’s a good thing the 19-year-old has experienced so little of it

Andrew Fidel Fernando at Newlands02-Jan-20171:15

Lahiru Kumara: Want to play for a long time

Most Sri Lanka fast bowlers are lovers, not fighters. Sadly this is by process of elimination.Look, quicks don’t have to be angry. Chaminda Vaas rarely was. But many of the best, at least outside Sri Lanka, reserve the right to a stage persona. Andre Nel had a mountain man he called “Gunther”. Dale Steyn has a vein on his forehead that seems to be made of concentrated fury. Vernon Philander will bowl a 125kph delivery, then stare at you like he has raised the smell of sulphur from the surface and brought demons up from the ground.These are not the antics of the stereotypical Sri Lanka quick. The smile, the sigh, the arm around the shoulder of the team-mate who has dropped a catch, the loving caresses of the ball and the kiss before he lopes in to bowl – those are the island tropes.Lahiru Kumara’s delivery to dismiss Hashim Amla’s was electric – the ball whizzing in late towards the batsman, beating the drive, making a small eruption of the stumps. But it was his reaction to the wicket that really drew the eye: a yell, a violent pumping of the fists, and shoulder action that – so abundant have injuries been lately – you were worried he would dislocate it.He surged in after that first breakthrough. He hit 143kph in that same over, and once JP Duminy had been caught down the legside, hit 144kph in the next. On air, commentators had bemoaned the lack of skill from the visiting fast bowlers, and practically declared the attack toothless. Suddenly, with Kumara’s introduction there was tension in the ground. Through the rest of the day, it was his spells that brought the Newlands crowd to attention.He’s only 19, so perhaps it’s not surprising, but Kumara’s first ever game of real domestic cricket had only been played in December. Perhaps that is just as well. The school system, from which he only recently graduated, retains a little of its own glory, but the first-class circuit is known to turn fast bowlers into husks. Of the top fifteen wicket-takers last season, only one was not a spinner. You can almost imagine Kumara going into a first-class season with his ox’s shoulders and broad chest, and in the end emerging wimpy and 125kph, shorn of all his exuberance, dead in the eyes, and growing facial hair that looks like pubes.Though Kumara is light on senior experience, he does have the benefit of having begun his cricket at a young age – moving to Trinity College for his cricket in Year 9. In comparison, Nuwan Pradeep only played leather-ball cricket from around the age of 20, and Suranga Lakmal had not started long before. Unlike them, Kumara has bowled fast right through his adolescence, which could make him less prone to injury, or so that theory goes.He had four wickets in Zimbabwe before this match, but though he didn’t remember the names of the batsmen he dismissed on those occasions, he says he will not forget his victims on this one.”Of the three wickets today, I loved the one the Hashim Amla dismissal,” he said after play. “He is one of the greatest players in the world and to get him with the way I did was a sweet feeling.”I have three wickets now and maybe a chance for me to finish with a five wicket haul. Let’s see how it goes. But the most important thing is to bowl them out as quickly as possible.”It does seem strange when it is a Sri Lankan fast bowler, not a spinner, or batsman that emerges. Fast bowling is the nation’s cricket most faulty production line. At home they manage on dusty tracks, which sometimes even make the quicks completely superfluous, but on tours outside the continent they are like a car without an engine, with Angelo Mathews and his men sitting inside hoping no one notices that it is their own paddling feet that keep the body moving.Maybe in years to come they will have better resources to call on. When Dushmantha Chameera eventually reaches his best, Sri Lanka hope to have a bowler of serious pace. Lahiru Kumara is not quite that quick, but today he swung the ball, and he did it with an attitude. For now, at 19, that is enough.

If Sri Lanka are to get out of the hole they are in, they will have to be rescued by the bowlers, as has been the norm in recent times

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo18-Mar-2017Having had a rough time in South Africa, Sri Lanka thought they were coming back to the comforts of home, to play a team they have nearly always crushed.They had endured Newlands’ seam movement, suffered on a hard Port Elizabeth pitch, and been lavishly flogged at the Bullring, but oh, at last, the sweaty embrace of Mother Lanka. See how her tawny tracks gleam a glorious amber at sunset. Doesn’t the dust that rise from her surfaces bring a tear to the eye? And her curators, oh, such curators – so friendly and helpful the mere sight of them makes you want to leap into their arms and weep. After the mean groundstaff in South Africa, these men will know how to treat you right. They will whisper reassuringly in your ear. You’re in safe hands now. Everything is going to be alright.The thing with coming home, though, is that things aren’t always in perfect order. Maybe the water coming out of the tap is a curious brown. At times, sparks will fly out of the power sockets. Occasionally you’ll discover that entire generations of rodents have lived, loved and died in some corner of the kitchen. On Saturday Sri Lanka’s batsmen were faced – for the first time in the series – with problems that required prompt solving, but they proved to be the kinds of homeowners that will flee quickly to the nearest hotel, and call in folks who are willing to get their hands dirty. Apart from Dimuth Karunaratne, they chose to pass the job to Sri Lanka’s bowlers.Bangladesh’s attack was always going to test Sri Lanka at some point. Mustafizur Rahman picked this day, and a clever strategy after lunch, loping impishly in from around the wicket at the right-handers, sending some balls straight, slyly seaming others away. Kusal Mendis might have been unlucky to have a not out decision overturned, but chances are he sent a thin edge to the keeper (Karunaratne basically admitted as much at the end of the day). Dinesh Chandimal reached out to drive the bowler soon after, and was out in similar fashion. Dhananjaya de Silva got the best ball of the three, but didn’t himself have to offer a shot. When Asela Gunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella fell at the other end, Sri Lanka had lost five top-order wickets for 47, and Sri Lanka’s tail-end handymen, who hail not from Colombo or Kandy, but from places like Waduwawa and Debarawewa, were called on to come up with a solution.Even Karunaratne – the one top order batsman who didn’t balk at Saturday’s difficulties – seemed confused by some situations. Karunaratne has recently been the sultan of the soft dismissal, poking balls to short cover, slapping them to point, almost always seemingly in a race to the dressing room with his fellow opener. Today he made it to the middle of the innings, and so unfamiliar was he with a reality in which he was the last recognised batsman – and the innings’ prized scalp – that he was befuddled as to how he should react. Where just after lunch, he had scored at close to a run-a-ball in the company of Kusal Mendis, Karunaratne managed only 10 off the last 38 deliveries he faced before tea. At one stage he seemed to want to shield Dilruwan Perera – a half-centurion from the previous Test – from the strike. It brought to mind tribesmen from isolated Amazon settlements, who have only seen the jungle all their lives, and are awestruck when they see anything as advanced as a bullock cart, or a building taller than a tree.He had, though, batted beautifully in the first three hours of the day, and Sri Lanka have him to thank for their slim lead in the match. His celebrations at reaching a fifth Test hundred were decidedly muted – the helmet stayed on. “Honestly, I was so focused that I didn’t realize that my hundred had come,” Karunaratne said. “I wanted to stay not out and put pressure on Bangladesh. I wanted to stay not out till stumps. I was disappointed when I was dismissed.”His exit left the job squarely in the hands of Sri Lanka’s fix-it men, who over the course of the last year, have cleaned up many a top-order mess. If Sri Lanka are to escape in this Test, Rangana Herath will need his toolkit again on Sunday. Suranga Lakmal and Dilruwan Perera will need to step out of their trucks ready for action, with sleeves rolled up.This has been a theme of Sri Lanka’s Test cricket in the last three years: pampered batsmen have long stretches in the team and are endlessly cared for by coaches, even through spells of poor form. The bowlers who have to contend with terrible fielding, weird captaincy, injuries, and still often find their places under threat, wind up having to do most of the work.

Despite numerous achievements across the formats, Hashim Amla has often batted in the shadow of his team-mates – but his place in the ODI pantheon is secure

Firdose Moonda at The Oval03-Jun-2017When Hashim Amla became the holder of the highest Test score by a South African, after his unbeaten 311 at The Oval in 2012, he was already the world’s top-ranked ODI batsman but barely lauded as such. He was known as a long-form master and his triple-century, as well as another hundred in the series against England, confirmed that – though it only elevated him to No. 2 in the Test rankings. In the afterglow, he was asked what it felt like to be the best batsman in the world.”I don’t know, I’m not even the best batsman in my team,” he replied.It was a typically Amla-esque answer, draped in modesty, but it also hinted at a home truth. Playing in the same team as AB de Villiers has its drawbacks, even more so in limited-overs cricket.De Villiers had been hailed as the best batsman of his generation, an era which straddles Tendulkar-Ponting-Kallis as well as Kohli-Williamson-Smith-Root. Amla has played in the same period but, although he occupied the top spot for a substantial time, he is seldom mentioned among the modern greats across all formats. His hundred in South Africa’s Champions Trophy opener should change that.It is not just that it was a(nother) impeccably timed bit of batting from Amla, whose first 27 balls yielded only 13 runs before the next 59 resulted in 71, or that he was the anchor of the 145-run second-wicket stand with Faf du Plessis that South Africa’s innings was built on, or even that he contrasted wrists flicks with meaty blows like the two sixes he smashed into the crowd. It was what this innings says about Amla’s place in the 50-over game.This century was his 25th and it took him 151 innings to get there, faster than anyone else. He is also the fastest to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 and 7000 ODI runs – proof that Amla, with his classical style and calm demeanour, is actually a more aggressive run-scorer than his contemporaries. Add in his effectiveness – only two of Amla’s 25 hundreds have been scored in defeat – and Amla’s role in South Africa’s success cannot be doubted.So why does the spotlight seem to scan past Amla and shine more brightly on de Villiers and, more recently, Quinton de Kock and du Plessis? The answer is two-fold. De Villiers and de Kock are showstoppers, whose range of strokes are more emphatic than Amla’s. While de Villiers now has a reputation that means even when he plays a pull too early and gifts a catch, as he did today, he will still steal headlines, de Kock has been South Africa’s most successful run-scorer since the 2015 World Cup and his precocious talent will result in him being recognised for many a year to come.Du Plessis has dominated talk less for his cricket and more for the off-field issues of the last 18 months. In that time, Amla stepped away from the Test captaincy to make way for a de Villiers-du Plessis debate, in which du Plessis eventually prevailed. The topical issues in South African cricket shifted from Amla’s reluctance to lead, to de Villiers’ reluctance to play Test cricket and desperation to win a World Cup, to du Plessis’ desire to captain, which allowed Amla to slip into the shadows, just as he likes it.For a while, Amla’s form followed suit – which did not aid his claim to a place among the ‘big four’ batsman in the world. Amla went nine Test innings without a hundred, which included South Africa’s victory in Australia, and then had a quiet ODI series in New Zealand, where he did not score fifty once. His lull coincided with purple patches for Steven Smith, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Joe Root, meaning that even Amla’s two IPL hundreds only briefly resurrected the conversation about his all-format ability. They also hinted at a return to the rhythm that South Africa are now benefitting from.Ama has come on this England tour on the back of an IPL where he finished sixth on the run charts, with 420 runs at 60.00, and was allowed to adopt a more carefree approach to a game that can sometimes become so serious that batsmen lose their spontaneity. He joined the South Africa squad with what seems a renewed focus, knowing that, like many of the seniors, the time to win a major tournament is likely limited to the next two years. Though Amla has never said it in the same way de Villiers has, he also aims to be part of an ICC-event success story, and he showed it here.He took on the responsibility South Africa needed against a Sri Lanka attack that was not entirely threatening but bookended the innings with fairly tight spells. Amla used the mid-section to press home South Africa’s advantage. He upped the tempo, he punished the bad balls, he set it up for a burst at the end and though he seemed more annoyed than usual when was run-out, he put his team in a winning position. That’s what a great does. There is no reason that Amla should not be counted among them.

While legspinners have been slightly more expensive than other bowler types, they have better averages and strike rates

S Rajesh18-Apr-201739 Wickets taken by legspinners this season, the most they have taken after 20 matches across all IPLs. It is also more than the tally for all other types of spinners put together: offspin, left-arm orthodox, and left-arm wristspin have combined to take 37 wickets. While legspinners have been slightly more expensive than other bowler types, they have better averages and strike rates. Legspinners have also bowled more overs than any other spinner type; they have sent down more than twice as many deliveries as offspinners.10.45 The bowling average for legspinners in the Powerplays – they have taken 11 wickets in the first six overs, bowling 18 overs at an economy rate of 6.39 runs per over, and less than 10 balls per wicket. The other spinners have together taken five wickets in Powerplays, at average of 53.2, an economy rate of 7.6, and a strike rate of 42 balls per wicket. Among legspinners, Rashid Khan leads with four Powerplay wickets in five overs, while Samuel Badree has three – during the course of a hat-trick against Mumbai Indians – in four overs, and Imran Tahir and Piyush Chawla two each in three overs.Legspin has led the way in the Powerplay overs this season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd9 The sum of all Powerplay wickets that legspinners had taken after 19 games in the previous nine IPL seasons. They have exceeded that tally in just this one season.1 Only one IPL game out of the first 19 hasn’t seen a single over of legspin – between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Lions in Mumbai.0 Wickets for offspinners in the Powerplays this season, the first time they have been wicketless in Powerplays after 19 games. In fact, their wickets tally in Powerplays has gradually been reducing since 2013 – they had four after 19 games in 2012, 2013 and 2014, two in 2015, and one in 2016. Harbhajan Singh has flown the flag for offspinners with some splendid bowling in the first six, going for just 20 across five overs, but he hasn’t picked up a wicket yet, while Sunil Narine has gone for 47 in seven wicketless overs.8.50 The economy rate for seamers in the Powerplays this season – they have taken 34 wickets at 43.79. Thanks to the legspinners, the overall numbers for spinners is much better in the first six overs – 16 wickets at an average of 23.75, and an economy rate of 7.16.

Teams batting first have scored at nearly ten an over in the third of their innings•ESPNcricinfo Ltd9.84 The average run rate in the third over, for teams batting first in the IPL. Teams have scored 187 runs off 114 balls in the third over, and lost only one wicket. Only three overs have fetched teams a higher run rate this season than the third – the 20th, the 19th, and the 17th. Last year, the third over produced a run rate of 6.55 for teams batting first, the lowest among all seasons; 16 wickets fell in the third over. Only two overs – the first and the second – had lower run rates than the third in 2016; from a rank of 18th in terms of run rates last season, the third over has jumped up to No. 3 this year. The eighth over has produced the lowest run rate this season – 8.52.7 Instances of bowlers conceding more than 10 runs in the third over, in the first innings of IPL games this season. The bowlers who have suffered are Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav (17 runs each), Ashok Dinda (16), Jasprit Bumrah (15), Bipul Sharma (12) and Mohit Sharma (11). In three of the top four cases – Milne, Southee and Dinda – the bowlers bowled economical first overs, but couldn’t repeat the act in their next over.8.36 The Powerplay run rate this season, the best among all IPL seasons; teams batting first have averaged 7.89, and teams chasing 8.83. Among the last five seasons, the next-highest, at a similar stage of previous tournaments, was 7.94 in 2016 (after 20 games). In fact, over the last five years, teams have been steadily increasing their scoring rates in the first six – from 6.75 in 2013 to 6.77 2014, to 7.14 in 2015, and 7.94 last year (after 19/20 games of the season). Teams have gone much harder this year during the Powerplay overs, and then taken a bit of a breather between overs seven and 12.The Powerplay run rate has been on a high this season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd11.2 Overs seems to be the actual halfway mark of the innings for the team batting first this IPL; they have, on average, doubled their score from this stage. The average score after 11.2 for the teams batting first is 85, and they have managed another 85 in the last 8.4 overs. It isn’t much different from last year’s numbers, when teams scored 83 in the first 11.2 overs, and 81 in the last 8.4.

Vinod Rai, the chairman of Indian cricket’s interim committee of administrators, evaluates the first 100 days of their tenure, and talks about working with the BCCI

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi11-May-2017You walked in as a nightwatchman and have survived 100 days.
Why do you say survived? I came in as a nightwatchman largely because I did not see a place for the COA over a long tenure. We have a very limited mandate. That mandate is the reforms the Supreme Court has asked us to implement.Could you tell us about the roles you identified for each of the members?
Vikram [Limaye, CEO and MD of IDFC Bank] is very good at finance-related issues. He is very good at comparing the various revenue and governance models that have recently been debated by the ICC board. Diana [Edulji, former India women’s captain] brings in a huge amount of experience from the players’ perspective. I find a lot of players gravitating towards her and giving her their inputs. No one knows the state associations as well as Ram [Guha, historian] does. Tell him any state association and he will rattle off statistics etc. The Supreme Court has brought together a bunch of very cohesive people with diverse experiences. As far as I am concerned, probably I can handle people better.Given your experience as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), what has this experience with the BCCI been like?

The BCCI has not really been a challenge. I was the CAG for only close to six years, but we have been trained to handle people and issues that are far more diverse and divergent in a large number of ways. But as the CAG, you call the shots. As a COA member, you don’t. Whatever you say can be contested by the BCCI office-bearers or state associations. So I don’t really have any power. I have to keep running back to the court. We have to work with the BCCI office-bearers because there is no way we can be effective if we don’t work with them.Has it been more or less complicated than dealing with taxation issues and governmental scams at a national level? Is there a common quality that has worked for you in both roles?

I understand people and where they come from. The BCCI is an institution. Any institution is an aggregation of people. You have to break it down to the people who run that institution. Handling the employees of the BCCI is not a problem, but the office-bearers bring to the table the strength of the institutions they represent. The constituencies of these office-bearers are very different. Basically you need to understand where they coming from and then try and analyse how they are looking at a particular issue.Has work on fulfilling your mandate started?
It has now. May 6 was the first time that the dialogue with the state associations started directly. We spent the larger part of February and March engaged in issues such as helping the IPL take off. Also, immediately upon taking charge, we had to deal with the ICC quarterly meetings in February. Then we were tied up with the residual issues from those meetings. The role of the COA and the office-bearers was also not clear. Only later in March, the court clarified, and since then we have been working together with the three office-bearers.In our meeting with the state associations we explained the entire reform process. I am fairly confident that, going forward, if I have two more dialogues with them, we would be able to narrow down the issues where they have differences of opinion with the Lodha Committee recommendations.Why did you feel that carrying out discussions with the state associations was important?
I wanted to brief them before the special general meeting (SGM), that if they were going to vote, they better know what they were going to vote for. I sincerely believed they did not know what they were voting for and that turned out to be true because of what the states said.Secondly, it was the first time I was meeting the state associations. So that was my opening gambit, to say to them, “Look, we need to be in conversation with each other.” They are all positively oriented, thinking people. The only thing is their thinking and their perspective was exceedingly narrow. They just did not know that there was an ICC governance model and a finance model. And the finance model, as far as we are concerned, is crumbs.I told them if the BCCI members had decided to withdraw from the ICC on the basis of the differences on the governance model, the COA will back them. But not on the finance model. You cannot put Indian cricket to risk.

“Some of these people think: ‘I know it much better and I am a visionary. What do the others know?'”

Most state associations were happy to talk with the COA, but they felt that the conversations should have happened earlier. They seem, in fact, more keen on individual interactions?
Yes, I am aware. One of the state associations was slightly combative, saying: why the COA did not brief them earlier? I informed them that when the BCCI decided on a date for the SGM in April, Rahul Johri [the BCCI CEO] had informed the office-bearers that I was travelling and [asked] whether the date could be rescheduled. The office-bearers’ prompt response was they could not and that I could join via video conference.Nonetheless we had already sent an 11-page letter to the ICC explaining the BCCI’s preliminary observations about the draft ICC constitution and finance model. About eight and half pages were dedicated to the new governance model. Rahul and his legal team had drafted that letter, but I made quite a few changes. We [bureaucrats] are good at writing letters and are file-pushers.Is it true that you have told the state associations to list the Lodha recommendations they believe are impractical and that you will then go jointly to the court and present those difficulties?
Each one of them [state associations] has a viewpoint and all of them have filed cases against the recommendations. I told them one fine day the court might wake up and throw every objection out and just say, “You don’t want to convene the AGM? Okay, [the new] constitution is adopted. Full stop.” Then they are stuck.I told them when they still had the time, why don’t they think, and then the COA will tell the court that out of the, say, 20 recommendations, 18 are adopted. The court might just accede or may not, but at least you will give the court the impression that by and large you have accepted the recommendations.Which are the recommendations that a majority of state associations are against?
Most are up against the one state, one vote; having three instead of five national selectors; and having an age cap of 70 for administrators.The tenure terms seem to be another point of disagreement. Office-bearers across the country feel a three-year term, then a cooling off period of three years, and a maximum of three terms allows neither the individual nor the organisation to benefit.
That is clearly not going to change. Ninety per cent are happy with it. They thought the tenure would be limited to just nine years, but it is nine years separately at the state [level] and nine at the BCCI.In a column in the Week magazine, you wrote: “Somewhere in the management of the game, the office-bearers appeared to have lost sight of the interest of cricket and began to pursue their own interpretation of what cricket should be.” What is their interpretation, according to you?
Unfortunately what happens is, if you are in an institution for very long, your thinking morphs into institutional thinking. If I had been at the CAG for ten to 15 years, I would have thought Vinod Rai is CAG and CAG is Vinod Rai. So, in some ways, the Lodha Committee was very right: any institution needs to move on. Fresh blood, fresh thinking must come.”We want to provide a structure to the BCCI. Issues likes what should be the accounting norms, what should be the powers of the BCCI president, secretary, treasurer. Where does the CEO fit in, and the apex council”•PTI You called the office-bearers’ “patriotism” to the game “unparalleled”. They opposed this reform till the Supreme Court ordered it, and even now their concern for the game compels them to fight on. Do you still remain optimistic?
Of course the COA is optimistic. We will get them [state associations] around. Recently we saw opposing forces within the BCCI coming together, asking to issue a notice to the ICC, saying BCCI’s will must prevail otherwise India will withdraw. That is what I called “patriotism”, as it comes from the vested interests of individuals.When the COA took over, it was told the one-off Test against Bangladesh and the series against Australia would not be allowed to take place. Why? Because if they [state associations] are not in a position, there will be no cricket. Some state associations said they will not give their venues for the IPL since they own the grounds. We had to overcome that.How did you?
There were different ways. We told them IPL gives them livelihood. Cricket in India is not a passion, it is a religion. How can you say IPL will not be played? The COA spoke to them individually.Would it be fair to say on the basis of your direct dealings with the BCCI, that it was or is made up of a leadership that did not take the opinions or the doubts of the wider organisation into consideration when taking critical decisions following the Lodha Committee report?
Yes, it happens because I [the office-bearer/administrator] have been in the job long enough to believe that what I think is good for the institution and so I don’t have to take others’ opinions at all. Some of these people think: “I know it much better and I am a visionary. What do the others know?”As a counter, what does the COA know?
I subscribe to that viewpoint: what does the COA know? The only thing the COA has done is a 360-degree evaluation of all viewpoints. We have independent thought process. With the diverse experience that we bring to bear, the COA is far more capable of objectively evaluating the interests of cricket in India than these people who have been in the job for a long time.On the ICC negotiations, the COA stand has been very clear: stop confronting, start talking. You feel India cannot all the time be selfish about its share of the ICC revenues proportionate to what it brings to the table. But why should the BCCI not be protective of what it believes it has a right on? It has to be 100% protective of what it believes is its right. I would not like to give an inch on it. There was a time when Cricket Australia and the ECB controlled cricket. Time came when the ICC headquarters moved out of London to Dubai. Time came when the BCCI was in a position to twist arms and get the 2014 model [the Big Three] in place. But within a year of the model being signed by everybody, there were murmurs and opposition came about.So you are not always in a position where you can ram things through. If you are in such a position, you can do it, but you can only do it very short-term.Take the ICC’s new finance model, wherein the BCCI has only been allotted US$293m. It has come about because of an attempt by the ICC to make the distribution of revenue more equitable. In the discussions that the COA had with eight member countries, we had worked out a model where the other countries would not be worse off and yet India would have gotten much of the share due to it. Unfortunately in our recent negotiations, we seemed to have been chasing the mirage of $570m. We need to be realistic. A collaborative effort will take us far. Confrontation will be short-lived.

“Why should the BCCI not be protective of what it believes it has a right on? It has to be 100% protective of what it believes is its right. I would not like to give an inch on it”

In the February 2016 SGM, the BCCI gave its president Shashank Manohar [the right] to negotiate and come back with a 25% reduction [from the BCCI’s share of the ICC’s revenues]. With experienced people like Manohar, Sharad Pawar, Anurag Thakur, Ajay Shirke sitting in that SGM, they took a decision to negotiate. They did not say the BCCI is above everybody else and we must have our preeminent position. On the contrary, in April [2017], the BCCI gave Amitabh Choudhary [board secretary] a mandate saying negotiate only for $570 million or nothing. This obviously was a very flawed strategy.Does the objective that Manohar has in mind sync with you?
Not really. Ours is a very narrow objective: we are concerned solely with the interest of the BCCI. He is looking at a macro picture, where it needs to be an equitable distribution among all boards. The BCCI is looking at the picture where, rather being one of the ten, we are now one of the 17 members at the ICC board.Clearly, you have busted the myth that the COA and ICC are on the same page.
That 11-page letter sent in March says it all. Secondly, the fact that we negotiated with eight Full Member countries and got them on to our side before the ICC board voted last month. My question to some of the critics is: why did the BCCI not revoke the Members’ Participation Agreement last February, when the position was exactly the same?Do you reckon this approach of yours to engage with the BCCI office-bearers is working?
I am convinced it is working. We will build consensus on all these issues going forward. Where do you go from here?
It is still a long haul, but that ends in October. I am very realistic, because I don’t see a place for the COA in the BCCI in the long term. We want to provide a structure to the BCCI. It does not have one right now. It is run by individual styles. It is personality-oriented. We will put a structure in place and ensure that there are systems that will make this structure work.Issues like, what should be the accounting norms, what should be the powers of the BCCI president, secretary, treasurer. Where does the CEO fit in, because the BCCI constitution does not have any place for a CEO. And finally the apex council – where it fits in. That is a rough outline of the structure I am talking about.There have been instances when the entire finance department of a state government went on strike and yet the budget was presented on schedule. No one is indispensable. Tomorrow when we finish our job, the BCCI will continue to run smoothly.A dozen former India players, including Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar have supported the view that India should participate in the Champions Trophy. Isn’t the players’ support a key aspect of reforms?
Recently I met Tendulkar when I was launching a book based on him. I took the opportunity to tell him: “My call upon on you is that you are an icon, a legend and Indian cricket has ridden on your shoulders for such a long time. People like you, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, Kapil Dev must come forward and not only mentor players but also speak up for the cause of cricket.” I asked him if he really believed that India should not participate in the Champions Trophy, to which he said we should. I told him then to please speak up and say what a terrible loss it would be for cricket in India if we did not participate.You remain optimistic then?
Of course, I do. I am very optimistic. I feel fresh thinking needs to be introduced at the BCCI. This fresh thinking would be devoid of baggage.