Dubai: It's the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) worst-kept secret that they are more focused on being the richest administrators of the game in the world than anything else. What has, in recent times, exposed the BCCI like never before is the infighting that has spilled into the public domain amid allegations of an IPL scam.
The moment a board turns unprofessional, the performance graph of the team it is responsible for also suffers. The weakness of Indian players against short-pitched bowling had become all too evident during the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup but nothing has been done to rectify it.
The BCCI was so busy organising series after series that the chinks in the Indian side are now being exploited by other teams. The BCCI did not even bother to ask some of the players to train at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and sort out their technique.
Most of the Indian pace bowlers are carrying niggling injuries, but no step has been taken to address recurring fitness concerns. The board was keen to get all the top players to play in the IPL whether they were fit or not.
Going the Windies way
The BCCI should make sure it does not end up in the footsteps of the West Indies cricket board. When the West Indies were beating teams with ease in the early Eighties, the national board did nothing to groom young talent. No thought was given to setting up academies either but when the star players retired, the team crashed to defeats. Even to this day, West Indies cricket has not recovered from the negligence shown by the board.
A series of defeats for the Indian team is enough for ardent fans to give up their love for the game. The BCCI should realise that money cannot win matches and that ironing out flaws and unearthing new talent calls for a professional approach.
It's time the BCCI focused on the game rather than swelling its coffers!
