Is the BCCI becoming more powerful than the ICC?
Feb 29th, 2008 | By Aditya | Category: Top Stories
The love-hate relationship that the International Cricket Council seems to be having with the IPL tournament is showing in various funny ways. First it was the flip-flopping over the exclusive window for the IPL’s 6-week tournament. Then, the ICC made some really weird statements about the possible corruption risk in the IPL tournament.This is new situation for both the BCCI and the ICC. It has always been true that all the money in cricket has been in India. Remember the sorry state of the world cup after India and Pakistan crashed out of the world cup? Indian advertisers have always brought in the big bucks, and the ICC realizes that very well. But with the IPL, the BCCI has taken things to a new level. It’s now stepping on the ICC’s territory, with some players having to choose between the two.
It is inevitable that the two are going to compete for players. The IPL has created very strong incentives for players in their 30s to retire early, so they can start playing in the IPL. Other countries’ boards are going to have to schedule their tournament’s around the IPL’s schedule, and the ICC is going to dish out special treatment to the BCCI, and that’s going to anger the other boards, and that’s going to create tensions with the foreign players and their boards, and that’s going to just make the whole thing a big, complicated, MESS!
But it’s a strange choice for the ICC. One one hand, the BCCI is now running the world’s richest tournament, a tournament capable of becoming bigger than the ICC World Cup extravaganza (which you’ll remember, was a mega flop last time around). On the other hand, the BCCI is running the whole IPL thing to combat the break-away league, the Zee-promoted ICL, and the ICC has to support the IPL because it hates the ICL more than the IPL.
Either way, the ICC’s options are rather limited at this point. All the ICC can do at this point is to smile nervously and pretend it is OK with this whole thing like a 12-year old whose cake was stolen by it’s 6-year old younger sibling.
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I think it hardly matters. As long as there is good cricket who cares who wields the power? Yes, there has to be a supervising entity but so much will, should, instill some discipline.
Amrit
The risk is that if the BCCI starts calling the shots and dominates the other cricket boards, and the ICC becomes a silent spectator. That may not be good for world cricket!
Already BCCI has proven that it can shake ICC . IPL being an international fixture and affecting the schedule that ICC would have thought and with most of the revenues going to BCCI from the IPL and with all the scenarios that surrounded the sydney test with which BCCI dealt with such panache makes a strong statement that a day might come where ICC will be just a mere spectator.
OK, here’s a fun exercise: What would happen if the BCCI did, in fact, become more powerful?