If it weren’t for a politician, the 1987 World Cup that changed the way India, and the subcontinent, related to the game of cricket would never have been held in India. N.K.P. Salve, a Union minister then who was at the helm of cricket administration, joined hands with industrialist Jagmohan Dalmiya to bring home the cup that changed the cricketing landscape in this country. The two tribes — politicians and industrialists — are much maligned entities these days, vis a vis cricket. In the wake of the DDCA cricket mess, the word on the street is that the magic potion to cleanse cricket lies in jettisoning these two. Remove them, instal cricketers, and lie back and enjoy. If only things were as simple as that.
Last year, two former Indian cricketers traded verbal blows and indulged in mudslinging ahead of elections in the Karnataka cricket administration. The accusations ranged from corruption and nepotism to financial bungling. This year, in West Bengal, a former Indian captain sought to undermine the process of elections by seeking the patronage of the chief minister that smoothed, if not heavily influenced, his path to power. To say that cricketers will make for better administrators may be naive.
