NEW DELHI, MAY 19: In public perception, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is sitting on an explosive powderkeg. Charges of match-fixing by the players and corruption in various television and sponsorship deals by the officials is threatening to blow apart its edifice. But that does not seem to be the way the members of this august body look at themselves. At its Working Committee meeting on Friday, the most important decision the Board took was to put the blame of all wrong doings on one of its important functionary - Inderjit Singh Bindra - and issued a showcause notice to him.The former president of the Board may have gone overboard while levelling relentless charges against the International Cricket Council president Jagmohan Dalmiya and may have been reckless in naming players without evidence but by narrowing down the whole issue to the `folly' of one man seems either churlish or too simplistic.AC Mutthiah, a business tycoon from the South, and seen by most as the best man under the circumstances to navigate the Board's ship through this turbulent phase, has admittedly a tough job at hand - to appear neutral in the Bindra-Dalmiya warfare. What this meeting did confirm was the stranglehold Dalmiya has over the Board and even Muthiah, despite the veneer of `neutrality', had to succumb to this pressure of `votes' and charge one man with ``endangering the stability of the Board and its harmonious functioning''.Now the situation is that Bindra has to explain his charges and can be even expelled from the Board if his replies are not found ``satisfactory''. The expulsion can be decided by the general body of the board.As expected, Bindra's stand was that he ``would not be able to explain many things because of his confidentiality agreement with the CBI, but wherever he can he will explain''.Regarding the Code of Conduct for the players and the officials, which was announced by the Board last month, the Working Committee formed a three-member panel to formulate the points which would be discussed at the next Working Committee meeting scheduled for August.There were many questions which needed answers, like should India continue to play in places like Toronto, Singapore and Sharjah? The answer too, was simple: ``The Board is under contract and it has to fulfil it. In future, we can take a fresh look.''Was there anything positive which emerged from Friday's meeting? Perhaps, yes. There was no visible acrimony on display between Dalmiya and Bindra. For Bindra, Dalmiya was `Jaggu' and for Dalmiya, it was always `Bindra ji'. One member remarked: ``They were very cordial with each other. It is like a WWF match going on.'' May be that is where the future of cricket also lies?
