MATCH REPORTS
STAT SHEET
DIARY
HOT LINKS
OTHER SPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
BOOKS & THINGS
PEOPLE
DEAR REDIFF

Teeing off with Kapil Dev

Hemant Kenkre

Last week, Kapil Dev took some time off from his busy golfing schedule and spoke to the press about the state of Indian cricket.

In between teeing-off at some landscaped gold course in Jaipur, he said that he would love to be involved with Indian cricket in an official capacity, that he is available but would not go begging. This, in my humble opinion is great news for Indian cricket.

Indian cricket would certainly benefit from Kapil's vast experience and I have no doubt that his services will make the Indian team a major force in world cricket. Just imagine the kind of experience that he would be able to pass on to the present team. The present skipper, Sachin Tendulkar, was gung ho when he started out at Toronto bur seems to have mellowed a bit after his team's performance in South Africa and in the Caribbean.

With players like Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Venkatesh Prasad and Abey Kuruvilla among others, in the lineup, nothing seems wrong with the team. But there appears to be a loss of confidence at crunch time, and the team ends up drawing or losing matches already in their pocket. Case in point being the last Test in South Africa and the infamous Barbados Test. The loss of confidence, and India's faltering at the last and all-important hurdle, is just a matter of strategy and tactics - which the present team management lacks. Now, if Kapil was there, in an official capacity of course, things would be different.

What then stops Kapil Dev Nikhanj from donning the official cap? Simple, the procedural requirements of the BCCI. If Kapil were to serve Indian cricket in an official capacity, he would have to be elected to the BCCI through a state cricket association - except of course if he is appointed as manager, cricket coach or selector.

So why can't Kapil Dev stand for elections from either Haryana, his home state, or from Delhi, his adopted one? Simple, he will have to contend with past masters in the art of BCCI politics and would not like the embarrassment of a loss especially to someone who may have never donned flannels.

Does this mean that Kapil Dev is scared of fighting an election? Certainly not. If Kapil can take on the might of the West Indians in full cry, shake the ugly Aussies on their home turf and show mischievous Pakistanis the door, what is a measly election? What then is the problem? Simple again. In Kapil's words, he does not want to go begging and that it is "ridiculous to go through these silly things after playing cricket at the highest level." This bring up a very interesting question. Is it silly to fight elections to the state associations to be nominated to the BCCI to serve cricket? Apparently yes. One has to do such silly things if one wants to serve the game in an official capacity.

The next logical question would be - would you, dear reader, vote for a Kapil Dev if he were to contest elections for the post of a cricket official? Yes sir, you most certainly would! Apparently Kapil doesn't think so. Why? Because he has seen what happened to his former team mate, Dilip Vengsarkar, who lost the Mumbai Cricket Association elections last year, and Dilip Vengsarkar is by no means a non-entity. Why when did Dilip Vengsarkar do a silly thing and contest the MCA elections? Because he wanted to serve Mumbai and Indian Cricket. Unfortunately, the voters did not feel he had it in him to serve Mumbai and Indian Cricket. What dumb voters, you will say. Yes, but they are voters all the same and that too from what is considered the most knowledgeable constituency in Indian Cricket.

What happened to Dilip Vengsarkar after he lost the elections? He was so fed up with the MCA that he resigned from the post of chairman of the Mumbai selection committee. You will ask, what does the chairmanship of the selection committee got to do with MCA elections? Couldn't Vengsarkar have served Mumbai and Indian Cricket as a selector? Not really. How could he serve the people if they felt he was not good enough to be elected in the first place to serve cricket? Point taken.

What then would be Kapil's game plan if he did not want to fight silly elections and yet serve Indian Cricket? Quite a few options, one should think. For starters, he could gather enough private - read corporate - support to start an academy for pace bowlers. He could go to the grassroots with private help to scout for potential talent. He could start a celebrity golf tournament the proceeds of which would help finance a cricket academy. Or, he could do a Sitaram Kesri and get on to the BCCI without fighting a silly election.

And then there is the ultimate option - he could by dint of his PR work whip up public opinion in his favour, and literally force the BCCI into taking him on board.

How? Well, the next time he is on a golfing tour, he could ask the audience to go in for a snap poll. Or he could ask the cricket lovers of the country to take out a morcha to the BCCI office - and the BCCI, seeing the numbers backing him, would take fright and let him in.

A morcha in cricket? Sure, why not? Didn't the fans of Chandrakant Pandit take out a morcha in Mumbai when he was disciplined by Kishen Rungta?

Chandrakant who...?