Intentionally or otherwise, Vijay Mallya has unleashed a wonderful, but hitherto unknown, word into Indian cricket. We have always plodded along in Indian cricket and accountability was this word from another language that occasionally filtered through our barriers. We knew it existed, as we did at various times achtung and détente and glasnost or even shiraz and tom yum. But it didn’t really affect us. Now, all of a sudden, we are having to face it and the reaction of the cricket community has been amusing and yet, understandable.

Cricket has always had this exalted air to it. Cricketers who had jobs never went to work and spoke about it as if that is how it was meant to be. It wasn’t the employers who were doing them a favour, they were permitting themselves to be employed. Very few learnt new skills and very very few could become successful in another world. And so, the one reaction we are getting to what happened with the Bangalore Royal Challengers is “but cricket is different”.

Sadly, it isn’t. And as cricket moves into the era of corporate management, and profitability, image and return on investment become key criteria, everybody will have to become accountable. At one level the cricketers are, because they get dropped if they don’t score runs or take wickets and that will be extended to coaches and managers. It happens in football all the time. But it is a different story with India’s cricket administrators who know what the word means but who are enjoying looking the other way.

... contd.