​The BCCI wields power without responsibility

His ‘day job’ is political editor of The Economist, but it’s the cricket tragic in him that prompted James Astill to write ‘The Great Tamasha’ — a book that tells us the story of contemporary India through its obsession with the game. In the middle of a hectic visit to Delhi Astill spoke to Partha Bhaduri and Vikas Singh on IPL, the fixing controversy and lots more
How would you rate the IPL’s impact on world cricket?
This book is not about kicking the IPL and India.I have a little bit of sympathy even for the politicians who run the game. For example, Sharad Pawar is a man of rather nice manners. The IPL, in spite of all its problems, does show off some of India’s great strengths: the drive, the enterprise, all of which in a very serious way are important to India’s future. Nonetheless, I don’t think the IPL is for me. The impact it has had on international cricket has not been beneficial. The fact that the West Indies team, or Zimbabwe, is in financial and cricketing decline and that India does not care is a terrible indictment of its willingness to wield power without any of the responsibility that comes with it.
You have written about the IPL being a cozy club run by a few powerful individuals…
It’s run by the BCCI, so it reflects the culture of the BCCI. Uneasily tacked on to that is the system of franchises and the perennial friction between investors and administrators . I think this is a battle investors will slowly win, and franchises will become more important.
Could cricket go the football way, with clubs running the game in future, and maybe four-year cycles of international competitions?
Logically, things are headed that way. But because of the monopolistic way boards run the game, and the love for the international game which still exists, that might not be anytime soon. Even in India, with the schizophrenic love of cricket, a fan who watches only IPL still cares about Team India. So I don’t think international cricket will fizzle out. But it is getting weaker and will continue to get weaker. Where it will go and when there will be equilibrium, I cannot guess…
You’ve written about the need to create an IPL window in the international calendar. Even if the BCCI pushes for one, would the ICC be willing?
I think the ICC would be amenable because it makes sense. The IPL is not the Big Bash or any other T20 league. It’s the biggest public-privat e c r i cke t tournament in the world. It has riches you can’t exp e c t a ny cricketer to turn his back on. It’s enough to seriously dama g e the smaller, weaker inter national teams. If we value the international culture of cricket, then we have to look after the weaker boards and by not having a window, India shows no interest in doing that.
We’re seeing a proliferation here of IPL-style leagues in hockey, badminton, now football. Do you think they might work?
There’s no reason why they shouldn’t , but the IPL principally worked in India because it’s cricket. And Lalit Modi may be a bit of a mixed bag, but he is a brilliant start-up guy... The IPL was conceived on strong commercial logic and — for all the controversies — that logic still holds true. The IPL is not going away.
What was Lalit Modi’s response to ‘The Great Tamasha’ , by the way? You did call him “extremely rude, even by the standards of rich Indians” in the book?
Very gratifying and enthusiastic, and I give him credit for that because the portrait I paint of him is not without some caveats.
The recent spot-fixing controversy didn’t seem to affect the IPL crowds.
I’m surprised how little the common man was surprised by the whole affair. That’s cynicism. Sport never exists in an ideal space, as Ramachandra Guha pointed out. It doesn’t transcend society, it just reflects it.
How does cricket need to be run in India so that it benefits India and the world?
Cricket doesn’t need endless growth. So instead of trying to push the game to more and more countries, try to keep Tests on top in countries that are already playing them. India benefits cricket by producing good cricketers, so on the one hand, it should look after its domestic game so we see great Indian cricketers in the future too. On the other hand, it’s really important that India conduct itself responsibly in the ICC and with some of the lesser boards, in ways it hasn’t always done. Also, the BCCI’s money isn’t always used to benefit the grassroots . Sometimes, it’s just sitting in the banks. But to be fair to the BCCI, it’s probably the most ef ficient sports administration body in India.