Cricketers as administrators: Did Ganguly knock one out of the park?

On day one of assuming office Sourav smiled his trademark shy smile, posed for the cameras and made a statement without saying a word. Dada wore his India blazer to work - sending out a clear message that he was a cricket heavyweight, owner of a formidable track record : 424 games for India, almost half of them as captain.

Now, leaving office three years down the line, he again said little and, going by reports, was a lonely figure. Hurt he was denied a second innings ; apparently devastated because this was because of 'non performance' .

Dada came to the crease with immense goodwill. His appointment raised hope that, given outstanding credentials, he would wave his imperious arm and correct all that was wrong . At that time Indian cricket was going through a rough spell and the Supreme Court called the shots. When it mandated cricketers should run cricket Ganguly was the perfect fit and placing a past legend on the high table made sense. Who could possibly be better than a former captain respected by cricket's royalty, team mates Sachin/ Dravid/ Sehwag/ Laxman/ Kumble.

His rise was seen to correct a historical wrong that cricketers were not given key positions in Indian cricket's power hierarchy. But this narrative was not fully accurate because cricketers Vizzy, Fatesinghrao Gaekwad, Raj Singh Dungarpur, Shivlal Yadav were Presidents of BCCI and Ghulam Ahmad its Secretary. In state associations, Mahendra Pandove, Sanjay Jagdale, Brijesh Patel, MSK Prasad, Aunshuman Gaekwad, Kiran More and others have played a major role. Kumble headed Karnataka cricket and Azhar presently is the boss in Hyderabad.

From time to time, past cricketers have also worked professionally in the cricket board. Polly Umrigar ( India captain and a true legend) was Executive Secretary, later Suru Nayak, Doc Sridhar and Saba Karim had important operational roles. Yet, it's true that, by and large, cricketers are junior artists in a multi-starrer spectacle and assigned secondary, non-lead roles. They are in the chorus but in the second row, not centre stage in front of the camera.

Saurav's departure will reignite the debate about whether players should administer sport and whether they are equal to the task. Those in favour point to their valuable expertise and experience, players understand how things work and know what is needed. Part of this narrative - about the supremacy of actual playing experience - is the 'kitna khela hai' theory where ability/ merit/ knowledge is linked to the number of matches played. When stretched, this suggests anyone who hasn't played representative cricket knows nothing.

A contrary opinion says sport is complicated, that playing cricket and running cricket are dissimilar. Technical knowledge is good to have but management and governance require special training and a different skill set. In this construct, players have an advantage but that in itself isn't enough. To support this view, examples are cited of distinguished players/ stalwarts who succeeded ( Ali Bacher, Alec Stewart ) and who failed ( of which there are many examples) when thrust into jobs that demanded non- cricket expertise.

Also, there is no certainty that a great cricketer makes a good coach, which is why competence can't be equated with runs scored or matches played. If these were critical eligibility conditions Mike Hesson (who hasn't played first class cricket) wouldn't have coached the New Zealand Test side for 6 years. Likewise, Paul Collingwood, former captain of England, wouldn't be assistant coach at Durham and hold a relatively junior position with the English team.

It's great optics to have a cricketer heading a cricket body and Roger Binny is well-suited for the role. He is respected for his vast cricket experience, both on-field ( Tests,15 years of Ranji ) and off-field ( national selector, President Karnataka cricket ). He has dignity and poise, and is a likeable bloke who is a keen golfer who hits a very long ball.

Compared to Dada, Roger will have a quieter, less stressful ride in office. He is low profile and prefers being in the shadow. He exists outside the media footprint, away from social media and is not in the celebrity endorsement game.

The BCCI he heads is very different from three years back. Covid is gone, more or less, and there is no visible threat, no major challenge facing Indian cricket. The BCCI is in great space, stronger and more powerful than ever before. The court has restored the territory it had to cede and removed reforms it had to accept. Financially, things couldn't be better- cash is raining as if it is a continuous monsoon deluge. India's bench strength is such it can field multiple teams to compete at the international level. The women's IPL is set to start this season.