Start of the power shift

[Vijay.Sharma]

Nice article about India's rise from patronized members to rulers of the cricketing universe

IndiaÃÔ clout in cricketÃÃoth financial and otherwiseÃÊs rightly traced to the 1983 World Cup triumph. That one event along with the opening up of the Indian economy eight years later ÃÄhanged the way the game would be played and administrated in the future. The rise in outlay for the One Day International (ODI) World Cup gives an idea of the growth of the game. For the first edition in 1975, insurance firm Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd, UK, put up Ž£100,000 (around Rs. 81 lakh now), of which the winnerÃÔ share was Ž£4,000. Contrast this with approximately Ž£2 million won by India in 2011. The 1983 triumph triggered widespread cricket maniaÃÆspecially for limited overs cricketÃÂnd over the three decades since, India has become the epicentre of the game. Juxtaposed with a booming economy, especially in the past decade, cricket today is a multi-billion-dollar industry thanks largely to one country. In a week when the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL)ÃÑerhaps the most potent symbol of Indian cricketÃÔ powerÃÉas begun and the rights for all cricket played in India have been sold for Rs. 3,851 crore to Star India, it might be pertinent to remember one major episode in this transformation. Kapil DevÃÔ team turning the cricket world upside down by beating the mighty West Indies is only half the story. The other, no less fascinating, one is of how Indian cricket administrators led by the then Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N.K.P. SalveÃØho died last SundayÃÕurned insult into opportunity to break Marylebone Cricket ClubÃÔ (MCCÃÔ, and EnglandÃÔ) hegemony over the game. I knew Salve only briefly, and largely from stories about him in the media. He was from Nagpur, a city which has interestingly produced a fair number of lawyers-cum-cricket aficionados. Salve was, of course, also a politician and a strong votary of Vidarbha statehood, which never came to fruition. At various times, he held key positions in Union cabinetÃÃŽinistry of information and broadcasting, and ministry of mines, for exampleÃÂnd was an Indira Gandhi loyalist. But he is best remembered for his tenure as president of the BCCI, and more particularly, as the man at the helm when India won their first major title in 1983. Salve was a man of good cheer and smooth articulation; he was also undoubtedly an avid cricket follower. Facts and figures were on his fingertips, as it were, as also a clear understanding of issues and controversies which have been Indian cricketÃÔ constant companion. He was, in popular jargon, a terrific troubleshooter. I remember two meetings with Salve vividly. The first was as a fledgling reporter on the eve of the 1983 World Cup final. He was in fine, back-slapping form with everybody and sort of predicted that India would win the final. Ÿe have nothing to lose, the pressure is all on them (West Indies), he said. So it turned out. A couple of years later, after he had resolved the conflict between Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev by summoning both to Nagpur midway through the series against David GowerÃÔ England team (for the uninitiated, Kapil Dev had been dropped for the third Test at Kolkata after allegedly playing a ÅÓeckless shot in the second Test at Delhi and Gavaskar was captain), he was passing through Mumbai when I met him to get the lowdown on the fracas. Å®isunderstandings happen, he said, ÅÃut both these players are old enough to know that Indian cricket cannot be stalled for them. Looking back, I can imagine how he would have tackled the problem: no hanky-panky; instead, words of practical wisdom to caution the players against crossing the threshold. But to cut to the chase about how Salve got the World Cup moved out of England. Denied passes by the MCC, custodians of the LordÃÔ Cricket Ground, for the final, he swore vengeance. Ÿe must take the World Cup to India, he told his two BCCI cohorts, Jagmohan Dalmiya and I.S. Bindra, then Tweedledum and Tweedledee and not the sworn enemies they were to become later. But getting the World Cup to move anywhere from England was hardly likely to be like shifting a Ranji final from Mumbai to Delhi. There were objections galoreÃÃf history, legacy, lack of infrastructure and, not the least, lack of money. The last two mentioned were not hollow objections. While cricket was a craze in the subcontinent, facilities were primitive. Moreover, release of foreign exchange was the preserve of the government; and governments in the subcontinent were moribund in such matters. To overcome the first problem, Salve hit on the brainwave of including Pakistan as co-host. The difficulty quotient of this hardly needs telling, but Salve found an ally in retired air marshal Nur Khan, then head of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Khan convinced president Zia-ul-Haq of the viability of the project, Salve prevailed upon Rajiv Gandhi and a major hurdle of having enough stadia was crossed. Getting money out of the two governments was not easy, but Salve had the Indian prime ministerÃÔ ear and strong connections with Indian business. Reliance Industries Ltd was roped in to fund the event to the tune of Rs. 7 crore. Even so, EnglandÃÔ protests continued: Cricket in the subcontinent is played in winter and early twilight would make it impossible for each side to bowl 60 overs (there was no floodlit cricket then), which would violate the World Cup rules. Change the rules then, was SalveÃÔ counter; make it 50 overs a side. All dispute ended when the India-Pakistan bid offered 50% over the prize money on offer in 1983, with all ICC (International Cricket Council) members, including the associates, to benefit equitably. Salve had understood the power of money and the value of votes from even minor members. At the ICC meeting in London in July 1984, India and Pakistan won the rights to host the 1987 World Cup. Since then, the sportÃÔ premier tournament has come to the subcontinent twice ÃÊn 1996, with Sri Lanka included, and in 2011, with Bangladesh added to the power bloc, though Pakistan had to give up their rights as hosts because of terror-related issues. In the period since 2007, when the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Championship was played in South Africa (interestingly, India was the most reluctant participant), cricket has got its biggest fillip with the promulgation of the IPL, now touted to be a property valued at between $4.5-6 billion (around Rs. 22,900-30,600 crore). A runaway success in its first year thanks to a heady mix of cricket, glamour and big business, the IPL appeared to hit some breakers last season when TRPs showed a fall along with attendances at even key matches, not to mention a spate of controversies linked to governance and financial chicanery. It was argued then that fans were emotionally and financially drained after the World Cup which preceded the IPL, but sceptics abound. Will IPL 5 reignite the enthusiasm and grab the eyeballs which made it an unqualified winner in the first three seasons, or has the event lost its charm and excitement? ItÃÔ a long-drawn litmus test over the next eight weeks. http://www.livemint.com/2012/04/04204514/Start-of-the-power-shift.html?h=C