Above Board?

For the last few months, the Indiancricket board has been in a state of self-inflicted inertia; it''s nowthreatening to slip into even more dangerous realms: anarchy. Thesigns are ominous and they are everywhere. Inevitably, (just like the rise) thefall too stems from Jagmohan Dalmiya: the patron saint of this so-calledglorious game clearly doesn''t like the idea of being out of power. He gave thefirst hint of his intentions and coming chaos by wrapping up the Annual GeneralMeeting in 30 seconds flat.Maybe, he was hoping for another worldrecord against his name; but in effect, he has only managed to add one moredubious chapter to his tumultuous career as administrator. The whirlwind AGMquite emphatically conveyed the message that he had held and concluded it onlyto appease the Supreme Court.A little bit of grace and finesse inhandling this delicate situation would have gone some way in saving his face.Instead, he allowed himself to be ruled by ego and anger, and not the calm poiseand ingenuity that had given him such a formidablereputation.Dalmiya may not realise it but he has only snubbed hisfollowers with his 30-second action (which apparently cost the BCCI Rs 50 lakh);worse, he has also belittled the ''august'' body that he had so assiduouslycarried to such a preeminent position.The bigger question though is:where does the Board go from here? Will it come down like a pack of lifelesscards? Or will life go on? Well, the signs are ominous.Dalmiya''sdetractors will surely leave no stone, however tiny or huge, unturned to keephim away from the power knobs; Dalmiya himself will probably keep hunting forloopholes in his quest for a grand comeback. Cricket will, like always, be thehelpless victim in this mother of all surrogate fights.Sadly, thenew president, Ranbir Singh Mahendra, could not make it for the meeting. It''spossible that he already knew what was on the agenda: nothing. It''s alsopossible that he didn''t want to give anybody the opportunity to launch abroadside either at him or at Dalmiya. Or maybe, the Board is simply trying toweather the current storm.But the truth is something else: Mahendradidn''t attend the AGM because he is busy campaigning for the polls in Haryana.What''s more, he has apparently also made it clear that if he were to choosebetween the post of BCCI chief and the MLA seat, he would opt for thelatter.Mahendra is at least clear about his goals. He alsounderstands that the Board needs a full time boss, somebody who can spend 24hours on the job. The next few weeks, in fact, it needs someone who can spendmore hours if possible: after all, the Pakistan tour islooming.Unfortunately, we will prepare for this big series in thatold and trusted way: auto-drive. The Tours and Fixtures Committee has alreadymet and announced the venues for the Tests and One-dayers. So what if therotation formula was calculated by Board secretary SK Nair''s secretary, and notby Nair himself or the members of the Fixtures Committee? So what ifvenues that should have got a match were ignored? So what if politics andfavouritism seem to be the over-riding factor in doling them out? So what if allhell breaks loose thanks to this mindless madness? Did anybodybother to speak to the Indian captain before finalising the itinerary? DidSourav Ganguly speak to the curators to find out what kind of pitches await him?Or will he again land up at the ground and rake up another controversy? Will weever learn that home advantage is not an abstract concept but a useful tool thatcan be used in our favour?It will be interesting to see what kind ofsignals emerge from the new power centres. When will the next working committeemeet? What agenda will it set for itself? More immediately, who will tackle thecomplicated television rights issue? After all, the deal withDoordarshan has already lapsed. Will the Supreme Court ruling continue to applyto new arrangements too? Can ESPN-Star and Zee be in the race again or will theyhave to remain mute spectators as the biggest cake flies past themagain?The Board is clearly on a sticky wicket: it desperately needssomeone to hang out till the sun comes out again. Is there any suchbatsman?