The Committee of Administrators (CoA) was formed by the Supreme Court in January this year to oversee matters of Indian cricket after sacking Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke. It was expected that CoA would usher in transparency unlike the working of the BCCI that was seen as a cosy ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ club. But the indignant resignation by historian Ramachandra Guha, who was one of the members of the CoA, indicates Indian cricket is still happy with its daag achhe hain temperament.

Guha’s resignation from the CoA was shrouded in secrecy, as the Bengaluru-based cricket buff quit citing “personal reasons”.

But a day after he quit, Guha’s scathing letter to Vinod Rai, the CoA chairman, is out in the public domain and the reasons are anything but personal. In effect, the letter reflects the deep sense of frustration that CoA was unable to change the way Indian cricket was managed. Where cliques continued to rule the 22 yards and beyond and conflict of interest is still par for the course. Where cricketing gods were found to be having feet of clay.

Guha’s six-page yorker traps the CoA and the BCCI plumb LBW. His Hawkeye doesn’t show a pretty picture. Taking objection to national coaches moonlighting for IPL teams, Guha protests “dual loyalties”, saying “national duty must take precedence over club affiliation”.

Guha accuses the BCCI of allowing celebrity players-turned-coaches to draft their own contracts, enabling them to leave loopholes to be exploited. He points to the trend of 10-month contracts for national duty, leaving them two months to work as IPL coaches and mentors in the summer.

You don’t have to go too far to connect the dots. Guha’s reference is obviously to Rahul Dravid who is associated with Delhi Daredevils as a mentor while being in charge of India A and India Junior teams. Incidentally, Virender Sehwag, whose name is being mentioned for India coach position, is head of cricket operations and strategy of King XI Punjab IPL team. Another contender, Tom Moody of Australia is the coach with Sunrisers Hyderabad.

But let us argue it from an Indian cricket point of view. Player-turned-coaches cannot operate in a vacuum. Coaching is not about fine-tuning the stance or the grip on the bat handle alone, it is also about understanding the psyche of a player. Indian cricket will be better served if Dravid is able to spend quality time with Delhi Daredevils players like Rishabh Pant or a Sanju Samson, because they are India players of tomorrow.

And making money should not be frowned upon. IPL is the off-national duty season for Indian cricket and why should Dravid be a Cheteshwar Pujara, who because of the myopic nature of IPL owners does not get bought by any team, despite being a high-quality player.

It is obvious from Guha’s letter that even icons of the game do not think of leading by example. Obviously, the lure of big moolah is too much of a temptation to let irritants like a conflict of interest spoil the party. Sunil Gavaskar’s Professional Management Group, a sports marketing group signed up Shikhar Dhawan for a three-year period in April last year. It will, among other things, work on his image building and reputation management. Guha points out that he had brought this up earlier but it was not acted upon.

“Sunil Gavaskar is head of a company which represents Indian cricketers while commenting on those cricketers as part of the BCCI TV commentary panel. This is a clear conflict of interest. Either he must step down or withdraw himself from PMG completely or stop being a commentator for BCCI,” Guha wrote to the CoA in March this year. Guha’s is a straight drive as sharp and technically correct as Gavaskar’s. Would the little Master be completely oblivious to his role as PMG promoter while commenting about Dhawan at the batting crease?

The handling of legends of the game, consciously or subconsciously, with kid gloves is what Guha objects to. He calls it the “superstar culture” which means “the more famous the player, the more leeway he is allowed in violating norms and procedures”. A reference without naming him is made to Sourav Ganguly, who is the head of the Cricket Association of Bengal, and also an expert commentator on media channels.

Guha also mentions MS Dhoni who while being India captain held a 15 per cent stake in Rhiti Sports, that managed Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha, who were all India players in 2013. At that time, it was clarified that Dhoni held the stakes only for a brief while after which he gave it up.

The decision to award Dhoni an ‘A’ contract when he had ruled himself out from Test matches, Guha says, “was indefensible on cricketing grounds and sends absolutely the wrong message”. The retainer fee in ‘A’ category is Rs 2 crore. Clearly, some players are more equal than others in the BCCI scheme of things.

Since Thursday when he announced his resignation, it has been speculated that Guha’s decision was linked to the controversy surrounding coach Anil Kumble. That Kumble and captain Virat Kohli are not in the best of terms is public knowledge now, with the committee of three Indian legends — Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman — likely to be asked to mediate between the two in England, where they are for the Champions Trophy. Wonder if Dada sees the irony in this. Would he have taken kindly to a similar attempt asking him to mend fences with Greg Chappell, with whom he had an infamous falling out a decade ago?

But this palace intrigue is a BCCI copyright. Guha rightly calls it out, saying the “issue has been handled in an extremely insensitive and unprofessional manner”. The manner in which a player of Kumble’s stature has been embarrassed will make anyone aspiring for the post think twice. It also sends a message that the next coach can cross Kohli’s path at his own risk. Calling it another example of “the superstar culture gone berserk”, Guha sarcastically wonders if senior Indian cricketers will choose selectors and office bearers next. He takes a jibe at the manner in which Harsha Bhogle had to exit as BCCI commentator last year just because some cricketers felt he was overly critical of the Indian team.

For former Comptroller and Auditor General, Vinod Rai, this is the CoA’s 1.76 lakh crore moment. For all the expectations that the committee headed by Rai would clean up the compromised stables of Indian cricket, it has only let things drift. If Kohli and Kumble had indeed reached a point of no return, the decision on the next coach should have been taken soon after the Australia tour. A tense and unhappy Indian dressing room when the country expects the team to defend the Champions Trophy title is not desirable. More so when India’s opening game is against Pakistan on Sunday.

If the off-field controversies end up giving Mauka Mauka to Pakistan, the joke will be on us.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @Iamtssudhir

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