BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth

[Chandan]

In 1989, BCCI asked Srikkanth to dump seniors Former Indian team captain Kris Srikkanth says the BCCI offered him a divide-and-rule deal 18 years ago. In return for its backing, he would have to dump senior players demanding a system of graded payments. Last week the BCCI appeared to many to be making Rahul Dravid a somewhat similar offer. The more things change, the more they remain the same, says Krishnamachari Srikkanth. April 10, 2007 First Published: 02:12 IST(10/4/2007) Last Updated: 02:33 IST(10/4/2007) I have kept quiet for 18 years but given the tumultuous events of the past few days, it is time I broke my silence. Because, like all of you ? the fans who support the game, the media who act as watchdogs, the players anxiously wondering what lies ahead and the Indian cricket board ? I care deeply about Indian cricket. Indian cricket is in an eerily similar position to what it was on the eve of the Pakistan tour in 1989. For long, the issue of graded payments had been uneasily hanging in the air. Senior cricketers were insisting that this be implemented. In fact, just like now, the senior players and the BCCI appeared ranged on separate sides of a monetary divide. One that involved a lot of ego clashes and was threatening to affect the morale of the team. Most senior cricketers had threatened not go to Pakistan unless the board accepted their terms and conditions. Interestingly, I would not have been particularly affected by the graded system as despite being captain, I was neither very senior nor very junior, and would not have benefited too much or lost too much. And then, Raj Singh Dungarpur, the then powerful chairman of selectors, who was staying in the same hotel (Taj Palace in Delhi), called me to his room. He told me in no uncertain terms that if I abandoned my senior colleagues, he would give me a brand-new team, a second XI of sorts made up totally of youngsters, for the Pakistan tour. He said I would have the BCCI?s complete backing. I refused. I was the representative of my players. At that moment, I wanted to do my best by them. I could not betray the people who I might have had differences with from time to time, but who were also the people I considered my mates. Incidentally, the junior most cricketer at that time was Sachin Tendulkar. I remember telling him and another junior, Vivek Razdan, to relax. I told them not to worry, that they would not be involved in whatever happened, their careers would not be jeopardised. Since I refused, Dungarpur was extremely upset but eventually the regular players went to Pakistan under protest, after announcing we would forfeit the tour fees. There, while I did not make many runs myself, we did very well as a team, not losing a series in Pakistan for the first time ever ? a great achievement for India. On my return, even as I was preparing to go to New Zealand in a week's time, came the news of my being dropped, not just from the captaincy but also the team. I realised that Raj Singh was very unhappy with me. That was literally the beginning of the end of my career. I accept there were huge expectations from this World Cup thanks to the media (of which I am now a part), and fans do feel let down. Unfortunately, reality and expectations do not match in this case. Still, I always believed that Indian cricket is what it is because of the public. We -- cricketers past, present and future -- are what we are only because of you, the public. But at the same time, I don't want any cricketer to suffer my fate. This is now a time for all of us to get together, accept ground realities, make necessary cricketing solutions instead of pointing fingers at each other. Quotes and suggestions get misunderstood and misquoted, adding to the confusion. And because of the competition in the media, things get blown out of proportion and the truth sometimes disappears. I am no saint and have been part of the muddle. Just one thing here: players have a small shelf life. They sacrifice a lot to play cricket and need to earn as much as they can in that period of playing for life after the game. ---------------------------------------------------------- Please guys, let us understand this and question the BCCI instead of questioning the honesty and integrity of the players.

[Chandan]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth Come on guys. Say something here. Are most of the fans victims of media manipulation here? Just tell me, would you believe your player player or the media? Would you back your players or the board which has been quick to sieze the opportunity to hit the players when they're down? Who do you support? And what do you have to say on Srikkanth's column?

[gator]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth i kinda knew about this story..... i used to be a big fan of cheeka and still feel, he woulda made the greatest captain for india, if he didnt fall into this trap.... as far as players are concerned, i am all for them making big bucks... but somewhere, there needs to be a leash.... i dont know where.... i dont believe in hurting the purse.... Chandan, where do u suggest should they be held accountable.... u very well know, the amount of pressure, the corporates and media can put if a player is dropped, who is extremely well endorsed... ganguly, is prime example.... he didnt even prove on the domestic stage, he got in through pure media and corporate pressure.... this will be lesser, if the endorsements are limited... there needs to be a better solution than hitting them in the wallet.... but i dont know any as yet...

[Bumper]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth I thought Srikkanth was part of the "former captains team" that gave its feedback to the BCCI. At that time, this issue along with endorsements & several other issues, should have been discussed. Wonder what he was doing then ? Or was he just making up the numbers with Gavaskar & Ravi being the only contributors ?

[gator]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth

I thought Srikkanth was part of the "former captains team" that gave its feedback to the BCCI. And that time' date=' this issue along with endorsements & several other issues, should have been discussed. Wonder what he was doing then ? Or was he just making up the numbers with Gavaskar & Ravi being the only contributors ?[/quote'] he mus have been outvoted, bumps... kapil was the main proponent for limiting endorsements, though he was the main person who rebelled against BCCI when cheeka was cappo..... kapil carries a lot of weight in these matters....

[Bumper]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth

i kinda knew about this story..... i used to be a big fan of cheeka and still feel, he woulda made the greatest captain for india, if he didnt fall into this trap.... as far as players are concerned, i am all for them making big bucks... but somewhere, there needs to be a leash.... i dont know where.... i dont believe in hurting the purse.... Chandan, where do u suggest should they be held accountable.... u very well know, the amount of pressure, the corporates and media can put if a player is dropped, who is extremely well endorsed... ganguly, is prime example.... he didnt even prove on the domestic stage, he got in through pure media and corporate pressure.... this will be lesser, if the endorsements are limited... there needs to be a better solution than hitting them in the wallet.... but i dont know any as yet...

Gats, the endorsements limits was suggested by Ravi Shastri not Chappell or the media speculations, as believed by many. Ravi was interviewed by CNN IBN, when he admitted this himself. He also mentioned that 3 sponsors along with 3 BCCI sponsors adds upto 6 per player, which will total to close to 40-50 days per year on the player's calendar and total upto 10+ crores per player. Hey u spend close to 2 months doing ads & make more money than any other sportsman in the country & still dont have to win anything. Not sure what is there to bi.tch about this ?

[gator]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth

i kinda knew about this story..... i used to be a big fan of cheeka and still feel, he woulda made the greatest captain for india, if he didnt fall into this trap.... as far as players are concerned, i am all for them making big bucks... but somewhere, there needs to be a leash.... i dont know where.... i dont believe in hurting the purse.... Chandan, where do u suggest should they be held accountable.... u very well know, the amount of pressure, the corporates and media can put if a player is dropped, who is extremely well endorsed... ganguly, is prime example.... he didnt even prove on the domestic stage, he got in through pure media and corporate pressure.... this will be lesser, if the endorsements are limited... there needs to be a better solution than hitting them in the wallet.... but i dont know any as yet...

Gats, the endorsements limits was suggested by Ravi Shastri not Chappell or the media speculations, as believed by many. Ravi was interviewed by CNN IBN, when he admitted this himself. He also mentioned that 3 sponsors along with 3 BCCI sponsors adds upto 6 per player, which will eat into close to 40-50 days per year of the player's calendar and total upto 10+ crores per player. Hey u spend close to 2 months doing ads & make more money than any other sportsman in the country & still dont have to win anything. Not sure what is there to ***** about this ?

i read somewhere , it was kapil..... could be in conjunction with shastri... and hence no surprise, tht cheeka;s opinion could have been shot down..... there is no guarantee tht all these former captains agreed on everything in tht review meeting....

[Bumper]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth Cheeka is an empty drum. I have seen him many a times on TV. Makes a lotta noise, but very little sense in general and usually says the blindingly obvious. Am not surprised why his words dont weigh much with the BCCI. Sunny, Ravi & Kapil in that order are the only ones who'd have command attention from BCCI, rest were there to just make up the numbers.

[King]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth I don't understand what he is trying to convey here :shrug: If he is happy to be out in the open discussing these issues why not take names and mention it in full.

Last week the BCCI appeared to many to be making Rahul Dravid a somewhat similar offer. The more things change, the more they remain the same, says Krishnamachari Srikkanth.

I don't understand that "somewhat". The contract has been abolished already anyways. There was no offer was there? Also it is not like the players have come out in open and said anything as yet on this. I hate people that release information in bits and pieces to keep the public guessing ala Jamaican cops.

[Chandan]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth

as far as players are concerned, i am all for them making big bucks... but somewhere, there needs to be a leash.... i dont know where.... i dont believe in hurting the purse.... Chandan, where do u suggest should they be held accountable.... u very well know, the amount of pressure, the corporates and media can put if a player is dropped, who is extremely well endorsed... ganguly, is prime example.... he didnt even prove on the domestic stage, he got in through pure media and corporate pressure.... this will be lesser, if the endorsements are limited... there needs to be a better solution than hitting them in the wallet.... but i dont know any as yet...

The players are accountable only in their performance. If they do not perform, drop them for God's sake. Can anyone tell me why were carrying kaif for 2 years in the period of non-performance? And we dropped him when he had done well in WI in tests and we could have seen how he'd do in tests in SA. The idiots in board do not know a difference between test and ODI and you think they'll try to lessen the pressure on players? You say that Ganguly got in through corporates and media? I have just one question for you: Do media or corporates select our team? If not how were the selectors influenced through media and corporates? And if they indeed got influenced, what is BCCI doing about it? Why were those selectors not sacked? What is BCCI's policy here?

[Chandan]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth

I thought Srikkanth was part of the "former captains team" that gave its feedback to the BCCI. At that time' date=' this issue along with endorsements & several other issues, should have been discussed. Wonder what he was doing then ? Or was he just making up the numbers with Gavaskar & Ravi being the only contributors ?[/quote'] This suggestion was not made by the former captain or else they wouldn't have been criticizing BCCI on this move. Yesterday I saw Kapil Dev coming down heavily upon BCCI on this issue on TV.

[Chandan]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth

I don't understand what he is trying to convey here :shrug: If he is happy to be out in the open discussing these issues why not take names and mention it in full.

Last week the BCCI appeared to many to be making Rahul Dravid a somewhat similar offer. The more things change, the more they remain the same, says Krishnamachari Srikkanth.

I don't understand that "somewhat". The contract has been abolished already anyways. There was no offer was there? Also it is not like the players have come out in open and said anything as yet on this. I hate people that release information in bits and pieces to keep the public guessing ala Jamaican cops.

Ravi, Isn't he stating it in simple words? In 1989, he was asked to take a young team to Pak and if he did not support his seniors he'd be made captain. He thinks Dravid has been offered something similar by BCCI--don't support Sachin, Saurav, Viru, Bhajji, Zaheer and you'll take a young team in your captainship. They have even assured him of captainship till the England series. Contract has been abolished and it looks as if Dravid has decided to break away from the seniors (though I won't believe it untill it actually happens). So what is not not clear to you? Had Dravid not agreed to this, it'd have been even more difficult for BCCI to send an India A team BD in the captainship of new captain. Can't understand which names do you want to be taken.

[gator]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth

You say that Ganguly got in through corporates and media? I have just one question for you: Do media or corporates select our team? If not how were the selectors influenced through media and corporates? And if they indeed got influenced, what is BCCI doing about it? Why were those selectors not sacked? What is BCCI's policy here?

Chandan, u r underestimating the media and corporate here..... though, cricket is run by BCCI, most of the happenings are dictated by media and corporates..... IMO, More whether he did right things or not, atleast had the spine to stand up to the media and stick to what he believed, which was Greggy's process.... Vengsarkar has been dancing to the media and public opinion's tune like a monkey on cocaine... The corporate forces the media to exaggerate some players removal, which inturn puts pressure on selectors to select tht candidate as bad things are written about him.... it is a trickle effect.... Why do u think, nothing is written when Laxman or Kumble is left out and column after columns are written when Saurav or Kaif are left out... who have more endorsements and who has better records?

[Chandan]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth Ok. So here is article for you: Feeding frenzy : the madness of India's cricket media Amit Varma on the madness of India's cricket media Imagine a man, dressed respectably, and a scruffy dog he owns. The man sets the dog's tail on fire. And then, as the dog runs around frenetically, the man says smugly: "Look - mad dog." He even sells tickets. He calls it "The Mad Dog Show". Indian cricket is The Mad Dog Show. Indian fans are like that burning doggie. The media is the respectable gentleman. Every time I see footage of mobs burning the effigy of a cricketer, and the voiceover of an anchor droning sanctimoniously in the background, I am appalled by the hypocrisy. "That is a beast you feed," I feel like screaming. For all their talk about crazed subcontinental fans, the crazed subcontinental media is no different. It is a clich? that cricket and Bollywood are India's two great passions, but perhaps there really is just one. The media presents cricket as Bollywood drama, not sport. There aren't winners and losers, there are heroes and villains. If India win a game, they have lifted the nation. If they lose, they are traitors. Every act is willful. I n the quintessential Bollywood blockbuster, there are many twists, and few shades of grey. Similarly, in its coverage of cricket our media does not bother with nuance. Everything is larger than life. A mighty heave that just sails over the midwicket fence evokes epic adjectives. An identical shot that is caught at the boundary is unequivocally condemned. One is "flamboyant", "brilliant", "stunning"; the other is "careless" and "irresponsible". Note the implication of volition in the latter set of adjectives. The media is merely catering to the market, of course. The Indian Cricket FanTM is a mighty beast which brings in much advertising money, but a dumb one. The nuances of the game do not matter to it. It wants spectacle. Passages of obdurate defence against wily spin do not excite it, wickets and sixes do. It wants batsmen to whack the ball, not nudge it around, and bowlers to grab wickets, not buy them. It cannot accept defeat - as in a Bollywood film, the hero must win - and does not enjoy the intricate dramas constructed from ball to ball. Indeed, what it really wants, and will slobber over, is a highlights package that shows India winning. It probably wishes the channels could just broadcast the highlights live. The rest is boring filler. All subcontinental fans aren't like this, of course. But there aren't enough exceptions to constitute a significant market segment. Cricket coverage is such that niches cannot be satisfied: one official channel, the one that paid exorbitant amounts of money that it must earn back, broadcasts any one particular game. All the news channels have to cater to the lowest common denominator to survive. The connoisseur has few options that look at cricket as more than gladiatorial combat for jaded voyeurs. Indeed, the fear of the voyeurs getting jaded makes the media try harder to produce sensation. The most tried and tested way of doing this in the subcontinent is through shrill nationalism. So you have newspapers branding their cricket pages "Pakraman". Also "War in the Windies". And, of course, "LOC" ("Love of Cricket", it seems!). This ensures that emotions are most pitched, and this also plays up the theme of defeat as national betrayal: no true fan would stone the house of a player; but no true patriot would let a traitor go unpunished. As this self-fulfilling feedback loop between the media and The Indian Cricket FanTM plays itself out, think of the players. International cricket is a demanding sport, and the physical and mental stresses it puts a player through are formidable. When one adds to that the stress produced by our media in its quest for sensational headlines, behaving like paparazzi, it must be almost unbearable. It is common to say that our cricketers bear the burden of a nation, but they also bear the burden of madness. How can the beast be satiated? What are the consequences if the other team plays better on the day, as is often inevitable? Cricket is a hard sport, but the cricket that our players play is much, much harder. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Aren't most of the cricket fans like the ones described in the article?

[Chandan]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth <delete>

[King]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth

Ravi,Isn't he stating it in simple words? In 1989, he was asked to take a young team to Pak and if he did not support his seniors he'd be made captain. He thinks Dravid has been offered something similar by BCCI--don't support Sachin, Saurav, Viru, Bhajji, Zaheer and you'll take a young team in your captainship. They have even assured him of captainship till the England series. Contract has been abolished and it looks as if Dravid has decided to break away from the seniors (though I won't believe it untill it actually happens). So what is not not clear to you? Had Dravid not agreed to this, it'd have been even more difficult for BCCI to send an India A team BD in the captainship of new captain. Can't understand which names do you want to be taken.

I don't see him mention any names in his column. If the BCCI said we will not be allowing you to take Harbhajan I'm sure Rahul Dravid won't mind that :hic: They have not even announced the team yet so why the speculation??? Are the so called senior players talking about this as yet? Have they mentioned they are unhappy about these developments? I would wait before passing judgment considering these days everyone in Indian cricket is out there with his own speculations. I don't reckon Rahul Dravid is one that would care to pick up captaincy at the cost of financial security of the players. In fact he was one of the players that pushed for contracts few years ago. The most board members will probably not even be able to talk to him in these terms. Sorry but I would rather trust Rahul Dravid than Srikanth here.

[Chandan]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth I would also trust Rahul more because I've seen him play. But the BCCI has already dsaid that it'd sens a young team to BD to which Rahul has agreed obviously because the has agreed to lead the side. What does a young team mean? That most of the so called seniors are dumped. Who are the seniors? Sachin, Saurav, Kumble, Laxman, Zaheer and Bhajji in tests; & Sachin, Saurav, Kumble, Yuvraj, Zaheer and Bhajji in ODI. Had Sachin and Saurav been rested otherwise too from ODI team, I'd have welcomed it. But resting them because they have a number of contracts and board wants to overpower them???? And board did not need to announce it that they'd take a young team. Choosing a team is the job of selectors. Where are they? I heard Niranjan Shah making this announcement. So I won't call it a speculation.

[Chandan]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth And my only gripe with the fans here is that they are not able to understand what the BCCI is trying to say. NOTHING IS ABOVE BOARD AND NEVER WILL BE The BCCI is a body that controls cricketers and their money, and plays with the interests of Indian cricket, writes Uddalak Mukherjee. Questions without answers A month is a long time in Indian cricket. In early March, as the Indian team reached Mumbai airport to catch a flight for the West Indies, excited fans urged them on, confident that the boys would bring the Cup home. A soft drink company also ran a commercial showing six Indian cricketers miraculously turning into growling tigers ambling onto the pitch before a match. The message was symbolic, but uncomplicated. It asked opponents to stay clear of these mercurial cricketers, who were on a quest for glory. Later in the month, when the team returned after a dismal campaign, the picture had changed considerably. The players could not step out of doors without the protection of gun-toting policemen. The fans remained hysterical, but now, there was a dangerous edge to their frenzy. The cola advertisement too had disappeared from the screens. As if irate fans and disgruntled brand managers were not enough, Indian cricketers now have to contend with a vengeful cricket board as well. Some form of post-mortem of the World Cup debacle, followed by a change of captain or coach or both, was expected from the Board of Control for Cricket in India. But not the kind of sweeping changes that the working committee of the BCCI announced when it met in Mumbai last Saturday. The board feels that the chopping and changing was necessary to rid Indian cricket of its many ills. But isn?t the board itself a major component of these ills? It is a sick system whose first instinct after a first-round loss at the World Cup is to reinforce the control of its administrators and officials over the players, and their money. The decisions of the BCCI working committee have been discussed threadbare, in the media and elsewhere. But there still remains a set of critical questions that needs to be raised in the light of this development: whom does the cricket board of India really represent? Is the board a representative of the cricketers, as it has been claimed on numerous occasions? More importantly, does the board serve the interests of cricket in India at all? The answer to the first cannot possibly be in the affirmative. Technically speaking, professional cricketers in India are employees of the board. As an employer, the board has every right to penalize them for a poor showing. By this logic, the board is perfectly justified in linking payments to players? performance. But then, why was the gradation system followed all this while, making a player?s seniority the deciding factor in his payments ? Does the BCCI, by abolishing the gradation system in this meeting, mean to say that performance was not of any importance till now? That could explain the Indian team?s habitual under-performance in important tournaments. The decision to limit the number of endorsements per player to not more than three products would still defy all logic ? unless it can be conclusively proved that a cricketer?s commercial commitments have a bearing on his performance on the field. No amount of data-crunching can help prove this, not even if Messrs Duckworth and Lewis are put on the job. The board knows this, and hence the hints of backtracking, only 24 hours later. It is in the nature of an unprofessional organization like the BCCI ? and perhaps of Indians as a race ? to overlook all excesses and wish away every brewing problem as long as the team is winning. Most players in the team which went to the World Cup finals in 2003 endorsed one or more brands. And it is not as if cricketers alone have gained monetarily from these endorsements. The board has also filled up its coffers by milking the players. Try and imagine a situation where a Pepsi or a Sahara is shovelling money into the BCCI treasury even after being told that Sharad Pawar, Niranjan Shah, Ratnakar Shetty et al ? and not Dravid, Tendulkar, Dhoni & Co. ? would appear in the commercials. Consider some other demands on the Indian cricketers. Every so often they are made to play benefit and exhibition matches organized by the board, over and above their international fixtures. Why did the board not talk about cutting down on these matches, and streamlining a jampacked annual calendar if it really wanted the players to devote more time to domestic cricket? To expect them to play Ranji Trophy matches a day after returning from gruelling, month-long overseas tours is to behave more cruelly than Simon Legree. But that is exactly how the board is ? irrational, mean, and vengeful, not ashamed of tightening the purse-strings of its players without limiting its own income. The truth is that the relationship between the board and the players has always been fragile. Eighteen years ago, it had even tried ? unsuccessfully ? to ban six cricketers for playing exhibition matches in the United States of America and Canada. For all the outward gestures ? vice-president (east) Rajeev Shukla recently claimed that the BCCI has never shut its door on the players ? it is clear that things haven?t changed one bit. If they had, players would not have felt the need, as they do from time to time, to have an association to look after their own interests. The level of corruption and politicking within the board and around it are reflected in the decision to stop cricketers from holding exclusive media contracts. It goes without saying that the board?s attempts to gag the players, denying them an opportunity to present their case to the public, is harsh and undemocratic, but no one expects the BCCI to be understanding and democratic any longer. A more interesting move is to exempt the captain from this draconian measure. Would the decision have been the same if Sourav Ganguly, instead of Dravid, had been the captain? Unlikely. The board knows that Dravid is the last person to embarrass the board with his pen. Dravid?s email, sent on Sunday, should put any doubts on this matter to rest. It is difficult to furnish a single argument in favour of the motion that the Indian cricket board represents the interests of Indian cricket. Some experts have lauded the board for its attempts to strengthen domestic cricket: state associations have now been directed to prepare lively tracks; affiliated units have been asked to start their own academies; zonal representation is also likely to make way for a full-time selection committee with a shelf-life of two years. However, a closer scrutiny will reveal that there is nothing new about any of these measures. Most of them are purely cosmetic in nature. The board has been croaking about changing the nature of Indian pitches since the end of the Nineties, to enable our batsmen cope with tracks outside the subcontinent. It formed a pitches committee in 1997, which remained largely ineffective. In another bold step, the board had even invited the New Zealand Sports Turf Institute to study soil conditions in India and help relay the pitches at the leading venues. But, for some inexplicable reason, it failed to act upon the report prepared by the NZSTI. One has reasons to be sceptical about the new directive, as well as of the capabilities of the newly-formed pitches and grounds committee. Similarly, the board?s contention that cricket in India will improve by increasing the number of academies is flawed. The National Cricket Academy itself, in all its years of existence, has not been able to create a supply line of young players who can take the baton from the seniors. Rather than encouraging the mushrooming of academies, the board needs to take a hard look at the functioning of the NCA itself and try to find out why it has not been able to put in place a system that would produce quality players. However, the idea of replacing the zonal system of selection is certainly a noble one. But how does the board guarantee that the new selection committee will be free of partisan views and will put merit above regional considerations? The new committee will also be made up of men who have their strings tied to one zone or another. If the board were an individual, then it would be one who knows how to look after its interests. In the world that is growing more and more individualistic, the BCCI surely cannot be faulted for following the trend. It has built its own private club, run by politically-astute men on the single principle of making profit. Terms such as accountability are taboo inside the closed doors of its Mumbai headquarters, although the same term is expected to apply to everyone else. (Therefore, Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh must explain why they have an opinion in the first place.) The board seldom lets go of a chance to bully its employees into submission, but only after making sure that they, cornered by an unforgiving people, have nowhere else to turn to. Jagmohan Dalmiya was once criticized for commenting that the players played for the board and much later for the country. The recent set of directives from the board reveals how true the former board chief?s comment was. But no, those Indians who attack Mohammed Kaif?s house after the team?s defeat will not vandalize the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai. The players too will keep mum and hope their contracts are renewed. But it is time someone stood up and asked why the world?s richest cricket board still does not have a website of its own. -------------------------------------------------------- WHY WHY WHY????

[yoda]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth Chandan, why are you so supportive of these chokers? It is not like the BCCI is trying to hatch a major conspiracy to get rid of these brilliant performers. Most of them have no shame. If they had, they would have retired long ago when they were still doing well. It does happen in most sports (retiring when you aren't sucking big time), but rarely in Indian cricket.

[Chandan]

Re: BCCI is using the same divide-and-rule policy : K. Srikkanth So you'd rather support the corrupt BCCI officials who don't do anything apart from making more and more money at the expense of players? Chokers or not, they have played for us, at least done some sacrifices in their lives for the game. Why won't I support them instead of the board who still are not interested in doing anything for the game. And if they'll try this policy among the players, where will the trust and faith come from? You give me one reason: why would you support the board instead of the players?