Memon: Big challenges ahead for Manohar

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  • Shashank Manohar was named president of the BCCI for the second time last week.

    Within a couple of days of beginning his second innings as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI), Shashank Manohar was reminded of a major challenge that confronts him in the days ahead.

    This did not come from the man whose ambitions he has stymied, N Srinivasan, or any other threat to his position within the administration, rather the way cricket is being administered in the country.

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    The shameful behaviour of the Cuttack crowd during the second T20I match against South Africa – when bottles and other debris were thrown on the outfield to protest against India’s poor performance – was a more serious blow to the prestige of Indian cricket than the loss of the three-match series.

    The attitude of the spectators was disappointing. India’s obsession with cricket is part of cricket lore, but this does not marry well with being sore losers. However, this was not the first time something like this has transpired (remember the 1996 World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens?) so obviously the state association should have been better prepared.

    Crowd trouble disrupted India's second T20I clash against South Africa in Cuttack.

    The Cuttack cricket administration and the local police were not only unprepared, but also unwilling to take any action for a period long enough to turn the match into a fiasco way beyond the miserable cricket played by India. With the authorities lax, the vandals had a free run, resulting in mayhem.

    One hears that Manohar, stung badly by the embarrassment caused by the unruly behavior at Cuttack is looking at punitive punishment against the local cricket administration: this could mean a fine or a ban on future matches for some time or both.

    If this had to move from intent to action, it would be a major step in Indian cricket administration otherwise enmeshed in an unseemly game of votes-for-favour for a long time now. The plank on which Manohar had been voted to power was to bring back stability and credibility to the BCCI, and reining in vagabond state associations would be a great start even if it may seem less newsworthy than fighting Srinivasan.

    BCCI President has asked Orissa Cricket Association for a report on unruly crowd behaviour in Cuttack in 48 hours. http://t.co/Opx7OwfmBO

    — BCCI (@BCCI) October 7, 2015

    To be fair to Manohar, the riot at Cuttack is something that he could not have anticipated. Even if he had some apprehensions, this came too soon after his ascension for him to have done very much about it.

    Indeed, Manohar had been pretty much on the front foot when spelling out a fairly robust agenda to improve the processes and systems of administration and thereby the stock of Indian cricket.

    There were some significant measures he announced straightaway in his first press conference, among them being a strict monitoring of the finances of state associations. There have been too many stories of money being squandered or pilfered to ignore.

    N Srinivasan did not attend the Special General Meeting in Mumbai last Sunday.

    Just because Indian cricket is rich the bottom line is not affected. But if the money is not well spent, at some stage there is bound to be a boomerang effect. The tendency in the past had been to turn a blind eye to such financial vagrancy in consideration for support during the BCCI elections.

    The more important decisions, however, are to put up the accounts of the BCCI (and state associations) online for public scrutiny, the appointment of an ombudsman to look into actual and potential conflicts of interest involving officials and players (which seem to crop up every now and then) and to work closely with the government in tackling corruption.

    These are stellar measures long overdue and it can only be hoped that they will not remain only as a wish list on paper or as sound bites for media and public consumption.

    But apart from this thrust of initial bravado, there were also some intriguing developments where N Srinivasan and his relationship with the BCCI is concerned. For the record, not only did the former president not put up a rival to Manohar but he also did not attend the Special General Meeting in Mumbai last Sunday.

    Manohar has announced he plans an overhaul of state associations' finances.

    A day after Manohar was elected, the BCCI’s request to the Supreme Court seeking advice on how to deal with Srinivasan was met with an admonishment from the apex court. “Why are you asking us?’’ was the substantial missive of the SC.

    Interestingly, on the same day, Srinivasan withdrew the perjury case he was pursuing against BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur. This was followed by some reconciliatory noises from Manohar that BCCI’s affairs should be tackled within the Board itself.

    Some insiders aver that all this suggests some kind of a thaw in the frosty war between the two factions. Does this mean that Manohar will not pull the plug on Srinivasan’s position as ICC chairman?

    Nobody knows for sure, but history suggests that while the BCCI’s internecine politics can be harsh and ruthless, differences can dissolve just as suddenly to make it a cosy club where everybody survives.

    The next Annual General Meeting carries a lot of suspense.

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