The carefree path that BCCI followed seems to be at its fag end with Justice Lodha Committee’s report. The controversy hit cricket control board’s functioning structure might turn on its head, shall the suggestions in this report are made effective. There were many aspects of the BCCI structure that the Lodha Committee raised their eye-brows on. One of the most concerned aspects was the conflict of interest in the BCCI and state association level.
The major suggestions that are given by the Lodha committee were also previously thought upon but back then the BCCI officials turned a deaf ear to that. These suggestions are a more professional administration, restriction on age and tenure of an individual in office, the player-agent arrangement, legalization of betting and keeping the conflict of interest at bay.
The last part was the most concerned area of discussion. Both with BCCI and at the state association level, there are conflict of interest. The Lodha committee has gone ahead with minute examples of such conflicts to make their case stronger.
Certain changes in this regard were made by BCCI in the form of Roger Binny’s removal from the post of a national selector and Narendra Hirwani’s resignation from being Madhya Pradesh’s selector. However, BCCI did not act on the administration and that remain as it was. However, now with the Lodha committee blowing the whistle, it seems there will be more change to come soon if the suggestions are implemented. Among the names, Brijesh Patel is conflicted because he is the selector of Karnataka, where his son plays. Moreover, he also runs an academy which adds fuel to the fire of controversy.
Other than this, the Lodha committee’s suggestions will also have its effect on the way the Indian cricket team is selected. The committee suggests that the team should be selected by a panel of three members instead of five and will be comprised of former test cricketers only. What’s more is that, these three members of the selection panel will also choose the support staff of the team and the selection will not have to be approved by the board president.
8 Points Suggested by the Lodha Committee:
• One state, one vote
• Tenure gap and restriction on age
• No public servant or minister in the BCCI
• Three member selection committee
• Formation of player’s association
• Franchisee representative in IPL council
• Legalization of betting and bringing BCCI under the ambit of RTI
• Advertisements only during drinks, lunch and tea break
Summary
These are some of the points that have been suggested by the committee. While some of these could really help cricket flush out corruption, some might make things difficult. The advertisements often eat out the last and first ball of an over (due to which the last point has been raised), and this can be fixed by asking the broadcaster to make the switch only when an over is complete. Keep following us for latest cricket news and other sports news.