Sharad Pawar’s proposed candidature for the top job in Indian cricket has given a new spin to the war of succession in the BCCI. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is a sprawling empire, and he who heads it wields considerable power and leverage. The jostling to be elected chairperson is understandable. But what could possibly entice an ambitious politician like Pawar to seek the responsibilities that go with the glamour and prestige of the job? The election, by all accounts, is fiercely contested. The job is time-consuming. Between the geopolitics of contemporary cricket and the minutely negotiated tour schedules and television rights, it demands phenomenal political and financial lobbying. Not something you would expect your average neta to be craving by way of diversion, is it? But there’s much else to the game. There is so much it can do to enhance a politician’s profile. For one, it distinguishes him from the pack. The Indian team and their exploits are eagerly followed by hundreds of millions, and the men who preside over the cricket establishment exude a proportionate air of mightiness. And at a time when politics itself is becoming so muddy, the game offers a striking contrast. For the politician, it is a means of cloaking himself with the values of fair play and sportsmanship associated with the game. Pawar, already associated with Maharashtra cricket, is not the first politician to succumb to this desire to score a public relations coup and reign over the most popular sport in the country. Equally, in contemplating the bid he will not be the first to call into question the takeover of sports administration by active politicians. But if he does contest the BCCI election, successfully, he would perhaps be the first elected lord of all our fields. He would be ministering to the needs of the WTO-hit farmer as well as the amply endorsed cricketer. Having sought the vote in the Lok Sabha election in the name of the starving farmer, he would have to spare some of his time and energies to carrying through the BCCI’s commitment to greening up Indian wickets to nurture a whole generation of fast bowlers. Which makes us wonder: sifting the sawdust from the grain may be beyond even his considerable multitasking skills.
