Bullies are Cowards (LINK)
June 25th 2008 09:54
Bullies are Cowards
Younger brothers are the best 'made to order' bully material, aren't they? They are weaker, maybe shorter, lighter and probably don't know as much as the elder brother does - about life, love, brotherhood or even the truth about bullying. Every elder brother has, at one time or the other, bullied his younger brother into submission. That is no surprise. But there is a time and age for everything. And there also is a line beyond which the playful bullying of brothers metamorphoses into something really ugly. Into planned ostracizing, into scheming skulduggery and eventually even ruthless extermination. The moment the bullying starts turning into something ugly is when the parents need to step in.
Now to put it all under context, the BCCI and the ICL are the brothers in question. Brothers by their association with the same game even if not by blood. And the parent of course is the supremely negligent and famously indolent ICC. Let there be no question about who the bully is in this case. It is our BCCI, of course.
Credit where it is due
To understand more about this bullying by the BCCI and the continual shut-eye policy by the ICC, we need to look at the whole issue in closer detail. A question to the readers here: Was the IPL successful? Did you like it? Did you like T20 leagues with players from different countries playing together? Are you for more involvement of technology in the cricket action so that erroneous decisions can come down? Well, if you answered in the affirmative to any of the above questions, then ladies and gentlemen, we must thank the Indian Cricket League, aka ICL. This Subhash Chandra (Zee Telefilms) backed league is what gave the world a taste of these systems first hand.
It is one thing to not give them credit for all these innovations and more. But it is completely another to copy the concepts from them and then to try hard to push them into oblivion. Which is what is happening right now. To the BCCI's and Lalit Modi's credit, they will come back and tell you that Mr. Modi was the original proponent of such a league type system almost a decade back. But the truth is that the BCCI rejected the idea and turned their back on the league system - until the ICL made it a reality. This pricked the BCCI into action and act it did. It acted big - on scale and scope. The IPL resulted and it was a massive success - among the playing fraternity as well as with corporate sectors and the spectators. The difference ladies and gentlemen between the two leagues is one word - the tag of 'rebel'. And this tag was gifted to the ICL by none other than the BCCI.
Tagging the rebel
People will rightly point out two things. Subash Chandra/Zee did not float the ICL for philanthrophic reasons. They did see it as a profitable business venture. It was also a culmination of Subash Chandra's frustration at not being awarded telecast rights for home cricket matches inspite of successful bids. The bidding process was of course conducted by the BCCI - lest you ask. The second aspect of the league was the less than enthralling quality of cricket. One look at the rosters in the league would tell you the reason. The top cricketers were missing. And when you ask why the top players are missing from the league, the answer again leads us back to where we started. The 'rebel' tag.
A good, close look at the premise of the two competing leagues - ICL and the IPL - could also be interesting. The ICL backed by worthy cricketers such as the charismatic Kapil Dev, the doughty Kiran More and the outspoken but knowledgeable Tony Greig does not lay all its eggs in one basket, unlike the IPL. The small and garish and therefore attention-grabbing basket of T20. The ICL has always said that its aim is to work towards getting the league teams competing in T20, ODIs as well as longer duration matches. Now that is a concept worth pursuing. The IPL has given us a taste of how saucily interesting contests between two countrymen playing for different leagues can be. Now, if we could take such fiery contests between undeniably great sportsmen onto the next level - that of the ODIs or even 4 or 5 day matches - the game would be the winner. And the spectators would be treated well too. No doubt about that.
A matter of national shame
It is a matter of national shame that cricketers of the calibre of Kapil Dev and Kiran More are not being given their rightful due simply because they chose to support an innovative cricketing idea that they felt would surely benefit the game. Surely the creators of the IPL themselves would recognize that much - that the league format can only benefit the game. Because when we talk about these grand old cricketers not being given their due, there is no pun intended whatsoever. It is quite literal. These people have been cut off from the BCCI's rolls. The monthly pension that was due to the players has been discontinued. While a cricketer like Kapil Dev may not be hit hard by the revocation of the pension amount, it is worth noting the gesture which reeks of snobbery, ill will and an impatience towards anybody who does not toe their line. So, if it was not about the players tarnishing the game or bringing disrepute to it in any way, then what is all the ostracism and targeting about? It is obviously about competition - one feels. Or to be specific, an aversion to have anybody compete with them as far as cricket in the country is concerned.
Does the BCCI own Indian cricket? The legal answer is 'No'. They are simply a private body functioning at their whim and running the whole business of cricket for quite a long time now. Can another body step into the fray and offer the spectators and the cricket world in general another choice? Absolutely. But it is not the legal answer that we are interested in right now. It is the real world answer. The real world answer is given to us by two august bodies - the ICC and the BCCI. And their answer is that the cricket world - at least that part of the world which belongs to India - cannot have competition.
The market as Judge
Many have been the arguments in favour of the IPL that the market is the best judge of the worth of this form of the game. Well, should we not then extend that concept to this ICL/BCCI wrestling match? Do we not feel that the market is intelligent and perceptible enough to separate the grain from the chaff and offer their support to the best in the market? Would it not be beneficial to the game of cricket as a whole? Or even accept both of them if each have definite and individual strengths? Let's take a look at a small example in this context. Let's wind the clocks back by a couple of years. This was a time when the BCCI continued to function in its dithering, plodding way - just as an absent minded Wooster would in a Wodehouse novel. Though it is eminently arguable whether the warmth and good intentions of Wooster can be matched by the BCCI! The players were still getting pittance for pay and many were the news reports of a team like the Railways being made to travel by train for gruelling distances and being made to put up with substandard boarding and lodging facilities. And this, by the way, was the state of the country's largest and most prestigious tournament - The Ranji Trophy. Entry the ICL. Firm and attractive payment contracts were offered to players. Life, in general, seemed to be on the upswing for the players. The BCCI woke up; smelling the ICL. First thing it did was to brand the ICL as the 'rebel league' and issued ultimatums to the player community at large that any player opting for the ICL may never hope to represent the national team again. It then proceeded to revamp the payment systems for the domestic players in a big way. All this worked out to the players' benefit. Suddently cricket, once more became a logical choice for youngsters to pursue as a career. But amidst all this, let us not forget that but for the ICL, all this might never have happened.
Our responsibility as fans
Forget the different players here. Forget the fact that this is all a result of the TV-broadcast-rights wars. Lets even forget the fate of promising players like Ambati Rayudu or Abhishek Jhunjhunwala. Lets swallow pride and forget the demeaning treatment meted out to our one and only World Cup winning captain, Kapil Dev. Lets ask ourselves this one question. Can we, as conscientious and proud cricket fans, afford to have monopolies in the game? In a game which treats the young and the old alike, in a game which treats spin and pace alike, in a game which rewards both the biffers and the artists alike, can we let this festering monopoly take root?
To go back to the theme espoused in the opening lines, this is bullying at its best. Done expertly by the BCCI to undermine and eventually extinguish the ICL flames. The parent body, the ICC too has washed itself of its responsibilities and asked the ICL to get recognized by the BCCI first. The BCCI, I am sure, is smiling at this all and demurely whispering to the ICL - 'over my dead body'.
Bullying is not a display of strength. It is not even a display of confidence or bravado. It is fuelled by fear. Fear of being overtaken, of being overmatched, of being dethroned,. It is the expression used best by cowards in order to prevent a confrontation. To avoid a fair fight by preventing it even before it has a chance of ensuing. If the parent body is not in a position to understand this or if its hands are tied because of the colossal wealth and support that the BCCI possesses, it is time for us to rise up and be counted as passionate cricket fans.
Folks - there is enough room in the world for the IPL and the ICL to stay. Room enough in our hearts to appreciate the pioneering efforts of the ICL as well as the grand scale and scope of the IPL. Let nobody arbitrarily decide to deprive you of what is rightfully yours to enjoy - quality cricket action. Cricket democracy demands a petition on this subject and that is exactly what we have here. Please vote - ye who are against monopoly and ye who would like to see the game improve as a result of fair market competition. You are not voting against the BCCI or the IPL. You are not voting for the ICL. You are simply voting for the improvement of cricket as a game as a result of fair competition.
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