The sacking of Kapil Dev as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy might have been along expected lines, but it is the clearest indication yet that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has no intention whatsoever of brokering a truce with the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL). A day after the promoters of ICL unveiled the first lot of 50 players that will do duty in this year’s Twenty20 competition, the BCCI also made it clear on Tuesday that all Indians who have aligned themselves with the ‘rebel’ league are persona non grata so far as cricket’s governing body in the country is concerned.
Having chosen all along to refrain from adopting a hardline stance, the Board’s hand was forced by a succession of defiant statements emanating from the ICL camp in general, and Kapil in particular. The former Indian captain has repeatedly outlined an avowed desire to serve the game as his principal motive behind linking up with the ICL. Kapil could so easily have served the game, with official blessings, in his capacity as the NCA chairman. It will perhaps not be too long before the BCCI publicly demands accountability from Kapil in his role as the chief of a feeder system formulated to smoothen the transition from untapped promise to fulfiled potential. Kapil will continue to breathe fire, as is his wont.
What will be going through the minds of the ICL recruits, particularly in light of the Board deciding to substantially hike match fees for domestic first-class cricket, is open to debate. There is no denying the fact that the BCCI was in some ways forced to offer sops to prevent more defectors to the rebel league. Saying that, while the new terms don’t by a long way match the lucrative carrot dangled by the ICL, the BCCI has snatched away the cloak of acceptability from those that have committed themselves to the ICL, the ramifications of which will gradually begin to come to the fore. Not since the days of Kerry Packer in the mid-70s has international cricket had to grapple with a crisis of this nature. Packer could feed off disgruntled, underpaid superstars. The scenario is a lot different today, though it has to be admitted that the sums promised by the ICL will most certainly appeal to the majority that strongly believes it doesn’t stand a realistic chance of breaking into the national team. The battle lines have clearly been drawn. What course the clash between established authority and the ambitious upstart takes will be watched with keen interest, though one suspects that the oft-abused cliche ‘cricket is the winner’ will not apply in this instance.