New team, old ways

The only time the Board of Control for Cricket in India really feels the heat is when the players put up an awful performance. Otherwise, the murky dealings in the cash-rich body mean little to the cricket-crazy country. That allows the space for excesses and the power-backed set to control the setup. So, International Cricket Council chief N Srinivasan has made way for "consensus candidate" Jagmohan Dalmiya as BCCI president till 2017. But if he's gone, it's only because the Supreme Court found him guilty of a conflict of interest by owning an IPL franchise while running the show. Out he may be, but seven of the eight nominees from the Srinivasan group are now part of the new team.

The other winner is the BJP's Anurag Thakur, the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association chief whose problems with the Congress government in the state are far from over. Backed by NCP strongman Sharad Pawar, he’s risen up the board ranks with his win for the secretary’s post. Rajeev Shukla of the Congress was not so lucky, losing to Haryana's Anirudh Choudhary for the post of treasurer. The BJP, the NCP and the Congress apparently wanted to see the back of Srinivasan, but that has not happened. While acknowledging that two groups are now at work, the wily Dalmiya has promised change.

What change is the question that confronts the BCCI. It has ensured a countrywide structure for the game that is no more questioned, a selection process that is clean, a popular league in IPL that has resulted in better facilities for spectators and gains for cricketers. What is challenged repeatedly is the lack of transparency, especially on monetary matters. The BCCI has turned down any call for coming under purview of the RTI Act on the pretext of being a private body that seeks no government help. That is erroneous since land is given at cheap rates for infrastructure, along with administrative help during matches. The BCCI's image of a money-making machine without scruples is intact. For the custodian of a game that outscores the national sport, it is not on.