Cricket’s dynasts

An analysis of cricket’s administration in India reveals a disturbing fact: The administrators are dynasts, not democrats. To cling to power, they subvert all principles of democracy. This is very alarming because they are mostly powerful politicians and businessmen who should be strengthening democracy, not undermining it. Take the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), for instance. It has been controlled by cement industry tycoon N Srinivasan since 2002. Srinivasan was forced to leave office both at TNCA and the Indian cricket board after the Supreme Court mandated a clean-up of Indian cricket. But his control over the TNCA is absolute, and he has managed to install his daughter as TNCA’s president.

TNCA is in august company when it comes to cricket dynasties. Anurag Thakur, a Central government minister now, became the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association president in 2000. Thakur is ineligible to hold office now, and his brother has stepped in to become the association’s president. The family of Bansi Lal has ruled over the Haryana Cricket Association since the 1970s. In Punjab, the grip of the Bindra-Pandove group has lasted over four decades. The son of Niranjan Shah, the Saurashtra Cricket Association strongman, has taken over as its president. Shah has been in control since 1972! The Vidarbha Cricket Association has been controlled by Nagpur’s prominent lawyer family, the Manohars, for two generations, and the third generation is being groomed for the job. It’s like family business. The newly-recognised cricket association of Chandigarh is following the time-tested formula — the sons and relatives of its president, Sanjay Tandon, are voting members of the association.

All these dynasts have followed the undemocratic norm of excluding cricketers from the list of voting members. It is only now that after being arm-twisted by the SC, the state associations are reluctantly allowing former international cricketers to become members. The court has done a favour to cricket by undertaking the clean-up. Clearly, it needs to do more to ensure that cricketers — and not dynasts — run cricket. The first step in that direction would be to make all first-class cricketers voting members of their state units. Only then could the sons, daughters and chamchas of the boss be outvoted.