(This entry was originally published on Sunday, January 4th, 2009)
BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world and it is also considered to be one of the richest sports bodies too. Cricket is the most popular sports in India and Indian people is literally crazy for it and every match India plays is expected to be full-house crowd and at the same time, a lot of advertisements in television channels. However, it seems that 2008 might not have been a very attractive year for BCCI in terms of revenue. Two setbacks happened for the organization. ICC Champions Trophy 2008 did not take place in Pakistan because of security concern. England also did not play two ODI matches for the same problem.
Now, India is not going to Pakistan on a cricket tour because of the political problem. So, each of these things contributed to the loss of revenue and BCCI suffered. Of course, in 2008, we saw Indian Premier League (IPL) and it brought a lot of money for the organization. It is not that it is under any kind of loss, but the cancellation of Champions trophy and now India’s tour of Pakistan will surely decrease revenue to some extent.
(This entry was originally published in this blog December 2008 and it is based on the information of that time.)
Champions League Twenty20 2008 got cancelled and it did not bother cricket fans in India so much because they are now busy with the India vs England 2008 test series. Well, Australian states are not happy with the cancellation because they had great expectations about getting a lot of money and now, their paradise got lost. So, they are calling for compensation. Cricinfo reported:
Western Australia and Victoria believe they have missed out on a minimum of A$600,000 and will ask Cricket Australia for compensation after being told they must requalify for the postponed Champions League Twenty20. Tournament officials decided on Friday to stage the event, which was cancelled due to the Mumbai terrorist attacks, in India next October.
So, you see that Champions League Twenty20 is only about big money. Some clubs will get a lot of money in one week. They did not get this year. They will perhaps get it next year.
You know that BCCI has recently lifted its ban on the players, staffs and officials involved with Indian Cricket League (ICL) on the condition that they would cut their ties with ICL by 31 May 2009. ICL players, however, would have to play domestic cricket for a year before becoming eligible for international selection. Following BCCI’s amnesty on ICL players, the other cricket boards are now all set to follow the footstep of BCCI by lifting ban on ICL players.
Cricket boards in Bangladesh, New Zealand and Pakistan have already indicated that they are going to lift ban on ICL players. New Zealand board has even said that it would like its ICL players to return to international fold even before a year. So, it is clear that other cricket boards are keen to get back their ICL players back in the team. Here, I can just see the complete hegemony of BCCI in world cricket. Now, let us see if ICL players would like to come back in international fold, by terminating their ICL contracts.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to lift the ban on Indian Cricket League (ICL) players, staffs and officials. Recently, the board declared that those who are currently involved with ICL can come back to BCCI fold, if they can cut their ties with ICL by May 31, 2009. However, ICL players will not be readily considered for international selection. In fact, they have to play domestic cricket for a year before putting themselves in line for the international selection.
Shashank Manohar, the president of BCCI, has said that a number of players, staffs and officials have realized their mistake and are now interested to return to BCCI fold again and that is why, BCCI has decided to give them a chance. ICC rejected ICL’s appeal for official recognition last month, stating that any private tournament in any country must have the recognition of its domestic cricket board in order to become eligible for ICC recognition.
Well, I think, BCCI is showing an unprecedented dominance not only over Indian cricket but also over world cricket, using the large Indian market for India. ICL is a private tournament initiated by Essel Group in 2007 which successfully held a number of tournaments in India, but still failed to get BCCI or ICC recognition. Moreover, BCCI has put a bar on ICL players and officials to be involved in international cricket in India and forced other domestic boards to do the same with their ICL players. I do not know if a cricket board has the power to restrict somebody from domestic cricket which is similar to violating someone’s profession illegally.
India’s scheduled tour of Pakistan in January 2009 is now shrouded of uncertainty because of uncertain security condition in Pakistan where bomb attacks happen very often. BCCI has sought security clearance from Indian government in this regard and the government would send a team to assess the current security condition in the country before taking a final decision over the tour. In a pre-scheduled bilateral tour, India is supposed to visit Pakistan to take part in a 3-match Test and 5-match ODI series along with a Twenty20 international in January 2009.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), however, already assured of providing highest level of security to the Indian team during the tour. PCB is now trying to persuade BCCI to send India on the tour. Even Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani also requested Indian government to send Indian team on the pre-scheduled tour to Pakistan. However, Indian officials are considering the current security condition in Pakistan very seriously because if the team suffers any damage due to any terror attack then it might put a huge mark on overall relationship between the two neighboring countries in the sub-continent.
