CONFLICT OF INTEREST

BCCI to draw the line on Dravid issue

by K Shriniwas Rao • Published on

Dravid's role as a national coach while being an IPL franchise mentor is being seen as a case of conflict by a section of senior individuals who manage the state of affairs in Indian cricket. © Getty

Former India captain Rahul Dravid's letter to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), asking if his role as a national coach of India's junior teams is in conflict with his duties as a mentor to an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, has spiralled its way to the core of an issue that cannot be swept away under the carpet any more. Coming from Dravid himself - a cricketing legend whose identity among his fans has been synonymous with integrity and hard work -there are those in the corridors of Indian cricket who've finally woken up to the realization that conflict of interest as a subject needs to be dealt with an air of finality going forward.

"The question is not about whether Rahul can continue as national coach while he's with an IPL team or vice versa. The question is whether the BCCI is clear in its own thought process even as it struggles to put in place basic governance policies," a cricketer-turned-administrator told TOI on Monday. On this note, thanks to Dravid himself raising the subject and seeking clarification, a due-diligence process of sorts is soon come to be in place, and this time with the intent to spell out the basics as to what essentially amounts to conflict and what doesn't.

For instance, Dravid's role as a national coach while being an IPL franchise mentor is being seen as a case of conflict by a section of senior individuals who manage the state of affairs in Indian cricket. And, in that, there is a thought process that, in the words of a senior administrator, works like this: "A position with the national team, in whichever capacity, has to be considered `sanctimonious'.It's a choice one has to make -work with the national team and the National Cricket Academy for an entire year and draw a handsome salary or draw the same salary working with an IPL franchise, if you're getting it, and use the remaining time to pursue whatever off-field interests you may have. But you can't be doing both. Let's not complicate this, let's just take a look at tball circuit works." how the football circuit works."

That brings us to a question that's been left unanswered for quite a while now. Can the term conflict be determined drafted and explained in black and white?

"Maybe not but the principles of what constitutes conflict can be determined as a broader outline. For instance, Sourav Ganguly is also conflicted by way of being a BCCI state association chief doing commentary. Just until last month, his business partner was an IPL franchise owner. It's a conflict," says the administrator.

The Indian cricket board is finally working on a provisional draft to regulate degrees of variance that have led to the term `conflict' become one of the most abused expressions in the country's sports fraternity. "A lot is going to happen in this matter between now and next month. Just wait and watch. Even a handbook will be brought out spelling out a few basics," is how another senior administrator put it, confirming that the coming BCCI general meeting will discuss it as priority.

A lot has been said earlier too. Except that this is the first time that someone has actually stood up and asked if he's conflicted or not. In doing so, he's put the ball in the BCCI's court and rightly so.

Guha's letter, highlighting `conflict' in Indian cricket, wasn't something new to those tracking developments the last few years.There are those in the BCCI who believe the historian lost patience and unnecessarily jumped the gun whereas he could have stayed and made an effort to set things right, especially if he felt so strongly about it. However, what can be said with absolute surety is that the letters from Guha and Dravid have become the final nails in a coffin that was long waiting to be put to rest.

© TNN