‘BCCI is like USA at United Nations. Our point of view is always given weightage’

Sandeep Dwivedi: But there were a few hiccups with the ticketing towards the end of the tournament.

These are not hiccups,this is the strength of the game. You can only accommodate 30,000-40,000 people in a stadium but the demand for tickets is more than a million. So,there are bound to be hiccups and a degree of agitation,but this only indicates the popularity of the game. We have to take it in our stride.

Sandeep Dwivedi: But there were no more than 4,500 tickets for the public at the World Cup final. Don’t you think that percentage needs to be increased?

It should be increased. I think we are going to ask our state associations to enhance the capacity of the stadiums,so that more people can be accommodated. The demand for tickets is constantly increasing and we are holding more matches too. But the perception that there were only 4,500 tickets for the public is wrong. Around 5,000-10,000 tickets were given to members of different clubs of the Mumbai Cricket Association. They are also cricket lovers and there are many ordinary citizens among them. Around 7,000 tickets were given to ICC and then to the sponsors,so there should have been more tickets. But the total capacity of Wankhede stadium is not more than 35,000. The same is true of Mohali which has a capacity of around 28,000-30,000.

Sandeep Dwivedi: But big draw matches which are bound to pull in huge crowds could have been given to places with greater capacity,like the Eden Gardens.

Eden Gardens is a good centre,but we had decided from the very beginning that this time,the final will be hosted by Mumbai. The semifinal was given to Mohali. At that time,we did not realise that it would be an India-Pakistan match. Had it been New Zealand-Sri Lanka,there would have been no seating problem.

G S Vivek: Gary Kirsten has exceeded all expectations as coach but why is BCCI always inclined towards a foreigner for the job? Is it that Team India understands a foreign coach better?

My counter question to you is,why should we be hostile to a foreign coach? Whoever is good should be brought in. It should be completely open,and if the players are comfortable with a foreigner,why should we interfere? We have had Indian coaches,we brought in Ravi Shastri for a Bangladesh tour. There shouldn’t be a fixed rule that only Indian coaches should be with the Indian team—all countries use foreign coaches these days.

G S Vivek : So are you saying that at the selection of the next coach,an Indian and foreign coach will be given the same weightage?

Definitely,if we get a good Indian coach,he will be selected.

Unni Rajen Shanker: Have you shortlisted anyone for Gary Kirsten’s job?

Not as yet. The top brass of BCCI hasn’t pondered over it. They have been busy with the IPL and for almost 60 days,IPL-related activities will be going on. After that,there is an overseas tour so hopefully,before that they should have decided.

Coomi Kapoor: A lot of people feel that BCCI is just a money-making machine. M S Dhoni has said that his players will be fatigued and won’t be in the best of form playing the IPL matches so soon after the World Cup. So,is BCCI more interested in money than the welfare of the players?

We have always said that whoever feels the need to rest or feels there is too much cricket,he can inform BCCI or the selectors and take adequate rest. When he feels that he is back to full fitness,we will take him back. We are not forcing any player to play if he doesn’t want to.

Sandeep Dwivedi: But is it possible for a young player to take the risk of sitting out when the stakes are so high—there is pressure from the sponsors,there is the risk of losing your spot.

IPL franchises have got a bank of 30 players of which only 11 will be playing and if a team wants a particular player to play every match,then that is purely an agreement between the franchise and the player. Of course,there are no two ways about it: the schedule is hectic,but the international calendar is such,you can’t do much about it. That is why the players’ bank has been enlarged. For every spot,there are two or three options available.

Sandeep Dwivedi: But in the interest of the Indian team,don’t you think BCCI can step in and say,for example,that Dhoni should play in only 10 IPL matches and not 40?

No,we haven’t considered such a thing. When the IPL format included more matches,we did think that there could be a restriction but now that the matches have been reduced,there is no need for that.

Nihal Koshie: Is there any thought on the Indian team playing in Pakistan?

Well,so far,our calendar is hectic and there is no room to accommodate Pakistan. The decision of going there has to be taken by ICC. Unless the venue is declared safe,no team would like to go there. It’s not that we are against Pakistan or we don’t want to play Pakistan but it is always better to play on each other’s soil rather than choosing a third country.

Nihal Koshie: Wouldn’t it have been a better idea to have had an Indian coach apprentice with Gary Kirsten and his support staff so that when the foreign coach leaves,he can take charge in the interim period and we have trained Indian coaches with the team?

We have never said that Indian coaches are not qualified. We have had Lalchand Rajput,Robin Singh,Venkatesh Prasad. Whenever there was a chance,we gave it to an Indian. The same thing was said about physios as well but now we have Nitin Patel.

G S Vivek: Why is Team India always so anti-media? Why is there so much secrecy about every small thing in the team?

I think there is a love-hate relationship between the two. Some journalists also maintain personal contacts with the Indian players and there are complaints that they receive information off the record,so how can you say that they hate the media? And what is the Indian media today—it is colossal,50-60 newspapers and many TV news channels. If they all want to take bytes at the same time,it becomes a problem for the players. And there are restrictions—players are not comfortable with disclosing some information.

Sandeep Dwivedi: What is your opinion of cricketers coming into administration? Is it a healthy sign or is there a divide in BCCI among former players and officials who haven’t played cricket?

If you analyse why BCCI is the most successful sports body,you’ll discover it has members from all walks of life. Expertise comes from different sets of people who all contribute to BCCI’s success story. I shouldn’t say this but we are like USA at the United Nations—our point of view is always given weightage if it has some logic. It helps if all these cricketers,non-cricketers contribute in their own way.

Coomi Kapoor: BCCI has glossed over the controversy on whether the Cup given to the winning Indian team was the genuine World Cup. You goofed up there.

We didn’t goof up. We had been given a list of exempted items. The Cup which has been given to Team India and which will remain with BCCI was a part of that list. The conventional Cup or perpetual Cup travels to different countries and comes to the host country during the finals and is given to the victorious captain during the ceremony. The Customs officials were told that this Cup will not stay in India but they were asking for duty on it. BCCI has enough money but that doesn’t mean we’ll use it anywhere. Once you pay Customs duty on such items like Cups,it will set a precedent. Tomorrow,if Abhinav Bindra and Vijender Singh come back with gold medals,they will have to pay for them. There should be a different policy for such things.

Uthra G chaturvedi: In a report last month,Ratnakar Shetty admitted that the 2007 World Cup was a disaster because India and Pakistan were out in the first round,and that was the reason why the format was tweaked this time. Don’t you think it is unfair to use your clout to tweak something like the World Cup format purely to suit teams in the subcontinent?

What he must have been referring to was the elaborate itinerary,the format in the group stages. Now,ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat has said the tournament will be shorter,so we are not trying to manoeuvre or manipulate anything.

Swaraj Thapa: Cricket has got a lot of money,so what was the need for tax exemption or waivers?

It’s not just cricket that gets an exemption. Whenever any tournament is organised,the first condition of international bodies is that if your country allows tax exemption,only then will it be held there. We had taken it up with the Department of Revenue four years ago and they had agreed,otherwise India will not be able to host any international event. As far as BCCI and its state associations are concerned,they pay taxes. The exemption was given for ICC,not BCCI. ICC organises the World Cup and the Champions’ Trophy and the money generated is used to expand cricket in another countries. Sri Lanka,Bangladesh had agreed to a tax exemption and it’s for only this tournament,not all matches.

G S Vivek: Rajasthan won the Ranji Trophy and Jharkhand did very well too. But cricketers playing for India haven’t played domestic matches for several years and some teams are left at half their strength.

Rajasthan’s victory shows the development of cricket and takes the monopoly away from some states in the Ranji Trophy. We emphasise that players should play in domestic matches if they have time. Even when a player returns to the game from injury,it has been made mandatory that he play domestic matches before he can come back to the Indian team.

Sandeep Dwivedi: This will be the first IPL without Lalit Modi. What are the changes that we will see,will there be less glamour?

We have not diluted any element,except for late night parties which have been banned. It was becoming very difficult for players to attend those mandatory parties and play the next day. The selection of cheergirls has been given to the franchises. Earlier,the IPL secretariat used to select the agency which provided cheergirls. Similarly,the choice of hotels,catering etc has been given to the franchises and more power has been given to state associations.

Archna Shukla: Chirayu Amin had been appointed as the interim IPL head. Have you thought of getting anyone else? The problem with Lalit Modi was that he had a conflict of interest but that applies to N Srinivasan too.

Earlier,the appointment of the IPL governing council was for five years,but now the term is only for one year. So,either the chairman will be changed or re-elected every year. Srinivasan has a one per cent stake in India Cement and he is the owner of the Chennai franchise. This issue was deliberated upon when IPL was conceived and it was agreed that BCCI administrators can own a team,provided their companies are public listed companies. Sharad Pawar was the chairman then and Lalit Modi was also privy to this general body decision. On the basis of that,Srinivasan had bid for Chennai and taken that team.

Nihal Koshie: The chairman of the selection committee,Kris Srikkanth,sports a Chennai Super Kings’ jersey. Do you think this is appropriate?

Why should you doubt their integrity? He is working somewhere but that doesn’t mean that all 11 players in the Indian team will be from Chennai. Anil Kumble is working for Vijay Mallya; if tomorrow he holds a place on the Board,that does not mean all the players will be from Karnataka.

G S Vivek : But that has happened in the past,there was a great deal of regionalism.

In cricket,there is an examination every day. If a player does not perform in even one match,you will eat his head. Even if Sachin Tendulkar fails in one series,he is subjected to scrutiny and is called ‘Endulkar’ in the media,so there is a litmus test every day. Every five years,50-60 per cent of the players are gone. If a player is doing well,he will get selected irrespective of his state.

G S Vivek: All the stadiums had been refurbished for the World Cup but when can the common man just walk in and enjoy the match instead of standing from morning in queues for an afternoon match?

I share your feelings but what can we do? If there are threats to security from different organisations,then precautions have to be taken. We are not an expert body on security provisions—the local administration handles that and if we are receiving Sri Lanka’s President,then we have to make the necessary arrangements. Pakistan lost the status to host the World Cup because of the attack on Sri Lankan players.

G S Vivek: BCCI is always accused of bullying the ICC. Is it a boon or a disadvantage to have an Indian head ICC?

We never bully anyone at ICC. Every member is treated equally and every decision is taken through consensus. BCCI has got only one vote even when there is voting,so such observations are not true.

Transcribed by Smriti Sinha