Why the Jagmohan Dalmiya-led BCCI regime is no different

The new dispensation at the helm of affairs in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seems to be taking a leaf out of the Modi sarkar.

Just as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government praised itself for its achievements in the first year and celebrations spilled across the length and breadth of the country, the BCCI is on patting-its-back mode.

Watching India engage with minnows Bangladesh in the one-off Test makes for dull and boring cricket even as the famous batsmen plunder hundreds. There are three one day internationals (ODIs) after this on the tour which is big for the hosts as they rake in the moolah.

Back to how the BCCI is functioning under the new dispensation of Jagmohan Dalmiya and politician Anurag Thakur, one would get a general impression there is no dictatorial approach like the one under N Srinivasan.

There is a conscious effort to rope in the media which was evident from a press conference in which Thakur hogged the limelight. The efforts in involving three top cricketers – Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman - into the advisory panel made for good viewing on television.

But even now, one has no clue what their roles will be even as the BCCI is dragging its feet on the appointment of a foreign coach for Team India. There are some who say a foreign coach may not be appointed at all and this philosophy of having Ravi Shastri as director along with the team of Indian coaches could continue.

The question which the BCCI needs to answer is what is it doing about making India world beaters as suggested by Virat Kohli. If you look at Australia, the reigning World Cup champions, their cricket board is planning hard. From trying out pitches at home similar to those in the subcontinent and sending their spinners to the MRF academy in Chennai, there is a clear intent.

In India, none is aware of the BCCI’s plans. Obviously, they do not want any criticism and former greats are being roped in, and sooner than later, all of them will be paid some monetary compensation. After all, to imagine Indian cricketers will render free service is impossible.

The other day, Thakur talked of reviving the TRDO (talent research development officers). The proposal had come from the "God of Indian cricket" – Tendulkar – and the BCCI secretary readily agreed to it.

I am aware Thakur has spent considerable time as an official in the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. But he needs to know the TRDO is a meaningless exercise if one understands the existing structure in place now.

Some people within the BCCI feel it was the TRDO which spotted talents like MS Dhoni, Ishant Sharma and Suresh Raina. That is highly debatable.

In India, there are 27 domestic cricket teams and if you go through various layers of selection panels present from under-16, under-19, under-23 levels and finally Ranji, the total number of selectors would be close to 300.

When you have 300 selectors looking at various talent pools across the country, it would be best if they are asked for their opinion on different players.

Eventually these selectors can inform the senior selection committee about the boys who need to be looked at for making it to the senior talent pool.

The BCCI should reward the junior selectors, whose job is a painstaking one, though like in any other sport, these men do show some bias now and then in picking a few boys.

The TRDO exercise doesn’t need to be started again as there is enough talent spotting being done by junior selection panels.

Rather than wasting money on hiring new "officers" for the TRDO, the Indian board would do well to improve the standard of domestic cricket and quality of pitches.

This is the time when domestic cricket is in sleep mode. Yes, a plethora of club competitions are taking place in hundreds of cities in the country where there is exciting talent to be seen.

Thanks to instant cricket being the in-thing, the format of matches is short like the Indian Premier League (IPL) — be it maidans hosting matches or games being played in parks.

The BCCI should seriously look at doing something for the longer format of the game before we again start writing obituaries when the team travels abroad to a country where the pitches help fast bowlers.