We don’t want to stay forever

After a protracted legal battle, the Supreme Court took the extreme step of appointing a four-member committee of administrators headed by ex-CAG Vinod Rai to run the BCCI by end January. Since then they are trying to fulfil the mandate of the SC order, functioning as the new interim bosses of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and running the day-to-day administration of the cricket body till Lodha reforms are fully implemented and elections held.

Vinod Rai, who wears many hats these days, spoke extensively to Financial Chronicle on his exact role and how he hopes to create new self-sustaining systems and processes at the cricket board so that it can function on its own from say October onwards. Rai, a cricket buff like most Indians, calls it his love and life. He said, “Firstly, we must thank the Supreme Court and Justic Lodha and his team for showing missionary zeal in cleaning up the Augean stables of Indian cricket. We have to deliver cricket to the savants who live and breathe this game without intermediaries who have been abusing the game for their personal aggrandisement. Take out the interlopers, provide pure, pristine, undiluted and unadulterated cricket to the game’s followers, restore its glory and position.”

Cricket’s commercial epicentre remains India and Rai knows and understands its import in the global eco system. “Seventy per cent of the ICC’s revenues come from India, we deserve to maintain this great game’s dignity with no administrator and office bearer messing it up. There is a clear-cut agenda before us and we are working towards closure in a time bound manner. The court has been most supportive and we can’t lose focus because it is a huge responsibility given to us. As such, implementation of the reforms in the shortest period of time is crucial. As soon as we persuade the state associations to come on board and clean up the BCCI in its entirety by setting up corporate structures and systems for accounting and governance, we will move on,’’ he said.

Which is refreshing for the biggest bugbear with the BCCI has been that it has often become captive to zamindars and jagirdars and their varied ideologies. Rai explained exactly why time is of the essence, ‘‘When you go deeper into the concentric circle - the state associations are supposedly democratic, but as we know that they have been in the clutches of a handful of people for years, so we need to revert to a more transparent style of functioning. We don’t want to stay forever and will exit the moment we believe a self supportive structure is in place.’’

At the very core of Rai’s concern is that the players should not be given a raw deal. The game is because of the players and the IPL has changed around the fortunes of many as new gene pools of talent have emerged. But as Rai pointed out -- Cheteshwar Pujara is your finest batsman, he has proved it this entire home season and yet he wasn’t even picked by any franchise. Ishant Sharma bowled his heart out for India and yet he too doesn’t find himself picked. This is a travesty according to him. “We have to create a structure where our best players like Pujara, Ishant and Ajinkya Rahane are adequately rewarded because they represent India.’’

Rai reckons that the four administrators have been chosen carefully by the SC for they bring a specific skill sets to the table. In the short span of time that they have been on board, the board too is acting in a spiffy manner on the commercial side. He argued, ‘‘There is total transparency now in everything that we do, request for proposals (RFPs) are being put up on the website, negotiations are being done transparently, the entire sham of the past where opacity was the norm has been junked. One of the four administrators is always present when a commercial contract is being drawn up or finalised, and I am always on VC wherever I am for consultation.’’ On the crucial IPL broadcast contract which saw much jiggery pokery in the past, Rai is very clear, ‘‘I don’t foresee any difficulty in the IPL broadcast contract, we have made our processes transparent, come and bid is our message. Look at how smoothly the team jersey contract went, Oppo came and bagged it at double the base price. Indian cricket brand is very strong.”

Rai believes that by October or best by December 2017, the CoA will be out as the body will be restored back to health with all the structures and systems in place. He averred, “That much time is required for all stakeholders to digest the reset BCCI, it is no longer anyone’s jagir, but a transparent body. Frankly, I don’t see a problem in this transfer of power, no vested interests are left, no insidious means will be tolerated.’’ Even with the ICC, the new BCCI didn’t back down, ‘‘...we blocked their financing model and Shashank Manohar resigned (subsequently he has been asked to continue in the interim at ICC), we told him, we can’t take a cut by adhering to his model.’’

The reset cricket board under the court mandated CoA has embarked on a far reaching clean up mission, one that will take all interlopers and intermediaries out of the game and give a newly washed spun dried game back to its legion

and army of followers. Rai has been chosen with deliberate intent as mission coordinator.