HIS FIGHT TO THE FINISH (vs BCCI)

In his gritty tussle with BCCI, Aditya Verma had a little help from friends

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, From OUTLOOK magazine, Dated August 1, 2016

A day before the historic Supreme Court judgement on July 18 compelled the BCCI to start making wholesale changes in its set-up and rules, former cricketer Saad Bin Jung sent an SMS to petitioner Aditya Verma, saying, “Forget Bihar cricket, you’ve saved Indian cricket. People will remember you for that”.

That could be an apt summary of the three-year-long battle that Verma (52), secretary of the unrecognised Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), one of the several factions in the state, fought in the Bombay High Court and in the apex court.

Verma has another ambition. “I’ve been praying, please let me see the day my Bihar team would again play in the Ranji Trophy,” Verma tells Outlook. “My ambition is to help at least a dozen Bihar cricketers represent India in the next five years.” It’s to be seen if the BCCI includes Bihar (and other non-full member states) in the 2016-17 dom¬estic tournaments, beginning in September-October, as the SC has given the BCCI six months to implement the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.

It all began in May 2013, when Verma, a former university cricketer, moved the Bombay HC against the ‘flimsy probe’ that the BCCI was trying to conduct into the 2013 IPL betting-fixing case. One of those implicated was Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of then BCCI president N. Srinivasan. Verma, said to be backed by a BCCI lobby, demanded a thorough probe.

After Verma registered a ‘partial win’ in Bombay, the case moved to the SC and its scope expanded. About three years later, on July 18, Verma had a reason to smile, as a bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice F.M.I. Kalifulla pronounced the judgement at 2.14 pm. “It’s an excellent judgement; rather, it has exceeded my expectation a little,” he says. “Although deep inside I was confident of this kind of judgement, the Supreme Court, after all, has its own perspective of things.”

The fact that Bihar has not competed in the Ranji Trophy for 15 years deeply hurts Verma. The Jagmohan Dalmiya-led BCCI had snatched away the full membership of India’s third most populous state in September 2001, handing it to the newly-¬carved Jharkhand. Board politics was the reason, Verma alleges. The apex court judgement has not only restored Bihar’s vote as a full member, but also ordered the BCCI to give within six months all states, including small ones like Arunachal Pradesh, 

Meghalaya and Nagaland, the same privilege—something they didn’t have so far. There have been reports that Verma’s petition was actually part of a bigger game-plan within and outside the Board: get back at former BCCI president N. Srinivasan. This lobby included Lalit Modi, a prime malcontent who was expelled by the Srinivasan-Shashank Manohar duo in 2010 for ‘financial misdemeanour’. In that respect, the anti-Srinivasan gang has succeeded—thus far. 

Modi has even admitted to footing Verma’s petition-related bills. Verma concedes that he has had to seek ass¬istance from people, though he claims that he also sold his own land for Rs 40 lakh to meet his legal expenses. “I faced a fund crunch. I would beg people for various things while fighting this case, like plane tickets for myself,” he confesses. With the BCCI firmly under Srinivasan’s thumb, the IPL betting-fixing scandal came like a godsend for Modi, Verma and others. And a beleagured Modi found in Verma someone who was willing to stick his neck out against the might of Srinivasan. “People talked about many things; that Lalit Modi funded my case and others helping me. It was because Modi’s enemy was also my enemy [Srinivasan]. And because Modi and his lawyers were fighting the Rajasthan Cricket Association’s suspension [by a Srinivasan-led BCCI], we became friends,” he admits candidly.

Sometime during the long-drawn case, Verma says he was offered money to back out and also threatened with dire consequences. Did he feel ever feel like quitting? “Never,” he says. “If I take up an issue or a cause, I don’t relax until I take that to its logical end. I can’t butter up people. To fight for my right is in my character.” 

One of his team of lawyers, led by Nalini Chidambaram, praises Verma for “refusing to be bought”. 

“I appreciated that he stood steadfastly against the BCCI and his tenacity under pressure,” says Chidambaram. In fact, for the case, Verma sacrificed his son’s fledgling cricket career. “Srinivasan, through Bengal cricket chief Dalmiya, ensured that my son was not selected in the Bengal under-19 team, even after playing for Calcutta University for three years. No one was ready to pick him,” he claims.

Verma himself was a promising opening batsman who idolised Sunil Gavaskar (“I was such a staunch fan that, like him, I never wore a helmet”). But he’d often stand up to ‘injustice’, resulting in his not being picked for the Bihar Ranji Trophy team. This tendency even cost him a job. But that was the past. At the moment, Verma is feeling vindicated about having taken up the right cause, and won. Right now, he’s not thinking far—whether or not the historic judgement would lead to a much-needed cleansing of the other Indian sports federations too.

SEHWAG AND TIGER PATAUDI 'SIR'

Former India batsman revealed that it was the former India captain's 'advice' to change his stance in 2006 that helped him score a lot of runs

By QAISER MOHAMMAD ALI, www.Outlookindia.com

New Delhi has been — and is — home to many past and present Indian cricketers and captains. But when a frustrated Virender Sehwag, for the first time, openly alleged widespread corruption in Delhi cricket in 2009 and had threatened to leave Delhi over it, he had turned to Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi for guidance.

After Sehwag, feeling helpless with a "corruption-ridden" DDCA administration, told Arun Jaitley, then president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, of his 'decision' to leave Delhi, the politician asked 'Viru' to meet him. It was then that Sehwag turned to 'Tiger' Pataudi to articulate his thoughts on the raging issue of corruption, particularly in the selection of Delhi teams, that he had raised.

Sehwag, the only Indian to score two triple Test centuries, has not forgotten that contribution — and more. On Saturday evening, he indicated how much he respected the late Pataudi, especially after revealing that it was the former India captain's 'advice' to change his stance in 2006 that helped him score a lot of runs.

While speaking at the naming ceremony of the 'Sehwag Pavilion' and 'Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi Sports Complex' at Jamia Millia Islamia, the ace cricketer said he had met Pataudi only a couple of times — in 2006, August 2009 and, maybe, a couple of times more.

"I was travelling with him in a car and I asked him 'sir, have you seen my batting?' in 2006 when I was not scoring runs. He told me 'you are a good player, keep believing in yourself, trusting in yourself'," former India captain Sehwag, an alumnus of Jamia, told the audience.

"I said 'can you give me some advice?' He said 'I don't think you need advice but since you have asked me I can tell you that if you open your leg a little bit then you will score a lot of runs. And after that I scored my second triple century," Sehwag said to thunderous applause from the audience comprising Sharmila Tagore, wife of Pataudi and Bollywood actress, Jamia Vice-Chancellor, teachers and students.

"I was very thankful to sir [Pataudi] who gave such honest advice, and after that I scored many, many hundreds, the [second Test] triple century, and a double hundred in one-day matches. I was lucky. It's great honour for me to be here and spending time with you," he said.

Pataudi, the first India captain to register a Test win overseas, in 1969, had later disclosed that Sehwag had requested him to accompany him for the meeting at Jaitley's residence in August 2009, and he agreed due to his "respect for Sehwag".

Apart from Pataudi, the other story that Sehwag, dressed in a green checked shirt and brown trousers, narrated to his spell-bound listeners was how he got admission in Jamia.

"And after that [getting admission] I played for the country. So, I am very, very thankful to this university that gave me admission when no college in Delhi gave me admission," the swashbuckling batsman, who completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2001-02, said to a loud laughter and applause from the gathering.

Sehwag's childhood coach Amar Nath Sharma had taken him to Noor Mohammed, Physical Education Director at Jamia, for admission.

"Noor sir took my selection and told me one thing only. [Since] in XIIth standard I had a compartmental [re-exam], in English, so he asked me to clear that exam and then only would I get admission. He said 'go and study hard to clear that exam so that I could join the university'. I worked hard and cleared the exam and joined the university," he said. "I worked hard [at cricket] and practiced for hours and hours."

Due to his preoccupation with matches, Sehwag's attendance fell short of the minimum required mark for taking exams and Noor Mohammed had to take him to then Vice-Chancellor to get him special permission to write papers.

"He told him that 'this is the boy who will play for India one day. So, please allow him to sit in the exams, because if he doesn't practice, doesn't work hard, he can't play for India'," he said, referring to the reasons Noor Mohammed gave for short attendance.

"Thank you the Vice-Chancellor at that time and Noor sir who, believing in me, gave me the opportunity to use this ground and be a part of Jamia," said the indebted retired cricketer, now mentor of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab.

However, Noor Mohammed was surprisingly missing from the function, despite living at a stone's throw from the venue. It transpired that he was not invited, that, too, to at a venue that he had worked hard to develop to its present shape, and where he even today goes for his daily morning walk.

When contacted, Noor Mohammed, who retired from Jamia in 2014, said he was not invited. "It's a normal practice that retired heads of department of any office are usually invited for such functions," he said.

The land on which Jamia's Bhopal Ground, which comprises an international-size cricket field and a modern sports complex, was developed was donated by Pataudi's mother, Begum Sajida Sultan, the last begum of Bhopal. The complex has now been named 'Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi Sports Complex' but the words 'Bhopal Ground' have also been retained. It is also a first-class cricket venue where several Ranji Trophy matches have been played.

Sharmila Tagore, dressed in a yellow saree, said that "ideally" her husband should have been attending and speaking on this occasion, but considered it a "singular honour" and an "emotional moment" for her to be there.

"You probably only know him as a cricketer. But in truth he had a natural talent for many other sports. He played racquets, he played tennis, he played squash, he played football, he played hockey. So he was really blessed. And he also played a lot of snooker, hustled a lot of people and made money at the Bombay Gym Club, and also played bridge. And he had a lot of love for athletics. So this place, he would really have loved it," she said in her measured speech.

Sharmila said Tiger was "always calm and in control with his amused grin".

"He always had this look as if there is something funny about the world and detached from the machinations of lesser men. On the field he was relentless and hard hitting, passionate and unstoppable. Off the field he was caring, gentle, generous, very, very funny and very, very naughty," she said.

Sharmila also briefly touched upon the present state of Indian cricket, clearly hinting at the administrative side of the BCCI.

"Indian cricket is at the moment in a considerable state of reflection. It is blessed with resources in terms of players and infrastructure. However, some big questions remain," she said without pronouncing the word 'BCCI', which didn't treat Pataudi well in his last few years. When his IPL fee was withheld, he had to move the Bombay High Court to recover Rs.1.16 crore from the BCCI in April 2011, just a few months before he died. In 2013, BCCI instituted an annual lecture in his memory.

Jamia presented to Sharmila an oil portrait of Pataudi, made by Shah Abdul Faiz, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts at the university, and a crafted framed photo of Sehwag to the ace cricketer.

And Sharmila donated Jamia a large-sized black-and-white framed portrait of Pataudi executing a cover drive, possibly while representing Sussex in English county competition, which she unveiled at the entrance of the sports complex.

Asked why she chose that particular photo, Sharmila told Outlook: "It's a good shot and I like the concentration, [his] hand-eye coordination."

Sehwag also unveiled a photo of his, batting in India's ODI coloured uniform, as part of the simple ceremony. (This story first appeared on www.outlookindia.conm on May 16, 2016)

[Click here to read all my stories in OUTLOOK magazine http://www.outlookindia.com/people/Qaiser-Mohammad-Ali/16843]

REVIEW OF FILM ‘AZHAR’

Based on cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin’s life, it seems like an attempt to narrate the player’s side of the story, finally exonerative, but with a happy ending

By QAISER MOHAMMAD ALI, www.Outlookindia.com

Almost 17 years ago, when he was banned by the BCCI for his alle­ged role in match-fixing and three-and-a-half years after he won a court case against the ‘illegal’ punishment, a biopic has brought Moh­ammed Azharuddin right back into debates. Usu­ally, in all these long years, Azhar has steadfastly refused to talk about the match-fixing scandal that ended his car­eer in ignominy, but, very clearly, gave his consent to film-makers to have his say on celluloid after all these years.

Azhar, though it claims to be a work of fiction, seems like an attempt to narrate the player’s side of the story, finally exonerative, but with a happy ending. Azharuddin, a man with sublime, wristy flicks and effortless, languid strokes, is first shown accepting money from a bookie to underperform. After that, he realises his mistake, makes amends, and plays to his full potential to help India win a crucial match. He even ret­urns his ill-gotten gains. 

In the final scene, both his first wife (Naureen, played by Prachi Desai) and second (Sangeeta Bijlani, played by Nargis Fakhri) make a drama­tic appearance together in court when the judge declares Azhar’s life ban illegal, thus hinting at a reconciliation. The longest role in the film, after Emraan Hashmi’s Azhar, is that of his lawyer, Reddy, played by Kunal Roy Kapur, who is initially not confident about winning the case, but eventually has the better of defendant lawyer Meera, played by Lara Dutta.

In real life, lawyer Rama Kant Reddy, Azhar’s classmate from All Saint’s School in Hyderabad, told this reviewer that he was initially reluctant to take up the case, but took up the challenge on the insistence of his mother.

The film, which was largely shot at various English cricket grounds, was completed in about a year. Azhar also comes armed with a long disclaimer up front that declares it as fiction, clearly to avoid litigation, as many of Azharuddin’s famous teammates are shown—actually, often depicted mercilessly—though they are only given first names, like Ravi, Manoj etc. Although the events are fast-paced Azhar would only appeal to people who’re aware of the facts. (This story appeared in the May 30, 2016, issue of Outlook magazine)

[Click here to read all my stories in OUTLOOK magazine http://www.outlookindia.com/people/Qaiser-Mohammad-Ali/16843]

AN INDIAN SCOOP TRICK

A Berlin exhibition on Dhyan Chand to celebrate 80 years of 1936 Olympic gold

By QAISER MOHAMMAD ALI, Outlook magazine

Eleven years before India first celebrated August 15 as Independence Day, it held significance for the hockey fraternity. On August 15, 1936, the Indian hockey team completed a golden hat-trick at the Olympic Games, having won gold at the 1928 and 1932 Olympics.

The brilliant Indians, captained by the legendary Dhyan Chand, duly clinched their third successive title in Berlin, with the crack centre-forward scoring three goals in his team’s 8-1 routing of Germany. It was Dhyan Chand’s third Olympic gold too.

The final was scheduled to be played on August 14, but was postponed by a day due to rain. In the audience was German chancellor Adolf Hitler, who had striven to use the Berlin games to showcase natio­nal socialism in all its imm­aculately choreographed ‘Aryan’ glory.

Now, the Indian Embassy in Germany is honouring Dhyan Chand, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the magical win with a exhibition in Berlin on August 15. Fans and family of the hockey wizard, not unjus­tly, feel the Bharat Ratna should be conferred on him.

“I would like to have an exhibition honouring your eminent father, the great Major Dhyan Chand (who was in the 2/14 Punjab Regiment after the First Brahmin Regiment, which he had joined as a sepoy in 1922, was disbanded). While his life and artistry does not need any reason to celebrate, this year will mark the 80th anniversary of his leading the Indian team to an Olympic gold medal in 1936,” said Gurjit Singh, India’s ambassador to Germany, in a letter to Ashok Kumar, also a former India hockey captain. 

Gurjit Singh, himself a cricket fan and a qualified cric­ket umpire, contacted Ashok for a loan of Dhyan Chand’s memorabilia—rare papers, photographs, mementos—that he and his extended family possess.

Ashok Kumar is delighted about Gurjit’s organis­ing the exhibition. But, having gone through a bitter experience before, he was apprehensive of losing the mementos. In the past, people have ‘bor­­rowed’, and never returned, items belonging to Dhyan Chand. The 1928 Olympic gold medal is among the casualties. “I’m grateful to Gurjit Singh has shown such keenness; he traced my phone number and called me. Since he is from Punjab and a sportsman, he has a lot of love for Dhyan Chandji,” says Ashok.

A wide variety of Dhyan Chand’s photos and honours are being sent to Germany. They include the 1932 and 1936 Olympic gold medals; a medal he received for ‘Fine Play’ at the 1936 games; the Padma Bhushan he received in 1956; the photograph of a 30-foot statue his fans have built atop a hill in his hometown Jhansi; photos of his meetings with B.R. Ambdekar, C. Rajagopalachari and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur; and the first day cover that the postal dep­artment had brought out on December 3, 1980, besides on-field action photos. Ashok says the Indian army too had rec­ently contacted him. “They requested me to send copies of the Dhyan Chand memorabilia to them as well, so that they could preserve it,” he says.

The 1936 Olympics also has non-sport significance for India-Germany relations. As Ashok Kumar points out: “Hockey helped consolidate the relations between the two countries. Besides,

Adolf Hitler had famously offered Dhyan Chand a commission in the Wehrmacht after watching him play at the final.” Legend  has it that Dhyan Chand politely declined Hitler’s offer—made after the hockey magician had scored 11 scintillating goals (as did his brother and teammate, Roop Singh) in the Berlin Games. But he was a true patriot and it was one of the few times the Fuehrer had got a no for an answer. 

(This story was published in OUTLOOK magazine, Issue dated June 6, 2016)

THE AJY SHIRKE INTERVIEW

 

New BCCI secretary says the Board could lose up to 70% revenue if Lodha Committee recommendations are implemented

 

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, Outlookindia.com

 

Maharasthra Cricket Association president Ajay Shirke is also a business tycoon who alternates between Pune and London. As BCCI treasurer he resigned at the height of the 2013 IPL betting-fixing scandal as he disagreed with then president N. Srinivasan on some issues. An extremely suave and articulate person, Shirke is also known for speaking his mind, as does during an interview with Qaiser Mohammad Ali. Excerpts:

Why has BCCI come to a stage where is facing so much humiliation?

This stage has obviously come due to the original IPL match-fixing scandal and the resultant approach of some BCCI officials. In fact, the Lodha Committee’s judgement has come because of a petition filed by the BCCI [in Supreme Court against a Bombay High Court order of 2013 that dismissed a Board-appointed probe panel for IPL scandal as unconstitutional]. In a way we’ve brought it upon ourselves. That’s why, if you now put things together, we made a very big mistake at that point in time.

So, are the BCCI and its officials to be blamed for the present situation?

BCCI officials have to be blamed. Not the current ones but who were there during that time [in 2013]. This was a direction in which I saw things were going, there was no point fighting with the [BCCI] president who had appointed me and so I chose to leave.

Will this litigation impact players, especially members of the national team?

Some of them may. Some [litigation] are there and some litigations are impending. Now, STAR India Ltd. has given the Board a notice, following the Lodha Committee recommendations, that they might not honour the contract with the BCCI because of the proposed restrictions on advertisements [during live telecast of matches].

But the court is yet to come out with the final order?

Correct. But if the court says fully implement the recommendations then where will be the money to pay to cricketers? So, it’ll affect cricketers in a big way, also ex-cricketers and everyone else. By making a recommendation like that would cut the Board’s revenue by about 68% to about 70%. So, how will we run the various healthcare scheme, the pension scheme, the benefit scheme? Where will the money come from? Ultimately cricketers, their families…everyone will be affected. And again one has to ask the question in all humility: How does chopping off advertising make BCCI a better organisation?

Why do you think the courts seem to have become a bit tough on the BCCI?

During the period of protracted legal process, there was a time when Mr. N.Srinivasan was there, then he didn’t resign, then he stepped aside, then Dalmiya came in, and all the other things happened. A lot of Lodha Committee report is down to perception and not fact. For instance, how is the management going to improve by removing Maharashtra, Vidharba, Baroda and Saurashtra?

How do you visualise the outcome of this case and what it could lead to?

The outcome of any court case cannot be predicted because the court will have several ways to arrive at a conclusion. They may be based on legal, moral, ethical; so many angles can be given to it. And who would’ve thought except a few of us that making this extended and protracted litigation and, at the same time, getting a hammering in the media every day will get an order against us in a petition that the Board itself filed.  

Will the BCCI change forever, then? 

If change means the full implementation of the Lodha Committee recommendations then it’ll be anybody’s guess what will happen to the BCCI. First, you will get new members who’ll have no history or connection to the sport. There is a big fallacy in this.  

How do you see the impact of Manohar’s departure from the BCCI at this juncture?

It’s a big loss to us but the Board is capable of finding a way and it has always found a solution from within itself.

THE END IS NEAR FOR THE BCCI'S 87-YEAR-OLD ZAMINDARI SYSTEM

By QAISER MOHAMMAD ALI
@AlwaysCricket 
 

New Delhi, February 22, 2016: It was always on the cards: the 'zamindars' of Indian cricket would not easily loosen their vice-like grip on the turf called the BCCI. After all, they have stoutly defended the body's structure, size and contours for 87 years now.

But, after the RM Lodha Committee's revolutionary recommendations, it seems that the world's wealthiest cricket body will finally undergo a change, sooner rather than later.

The reasons for this belief are quite a few, considering some recent events and the mood of the Supreme Court Bench that is handling the matter. The Bench has sufficiently indicated that it wants the entire Lodha Committee report on BCCI reforms implemented. The writing is on the wall, and the BCCI would do well to avoid antagonising the judges further.

First and foremost: the Lodha Committee was appointed by a Supreme Court Bench headed by the now Chief Justice of India, TS Thakur. So, it's only natural that the recommendations of a committee constituted by one CJI and chaired by another former CJI are implemented.

The only thing that remains to be seen is how many recommendations the Bench allows to be diluted - if any.

The indications of things to come for the BCCI became clear when the Bench, comprising Justice Thakur and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla recently told the Board to "fall in line", and implement the recommendations of the Lodha Committee.
"If you have any difficulty in implementing it, we will have the Lodha Committee implement it for you," Justice Thakur had told the BCCI counsel at the last hearing.

That left the BCCI with no choice but to obey, though its mandarins protested "off the record", for fear of making the judges angry.

Soft corner for the judiciary

The other major reason is that the man who heads the BCCI is also from the legal fraternity. Shashank Manohar is a well-known lawyer and is the son of another renowned lawyer, VR Manohar. The senior Manohar was the Advocate General of Maharashtra when Sharad Pawar was chief minister. Pawar is currently president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, and is said to be supporting Manohar on quite a few of the Lodha Committee's suggestions.

So, it is only natural that Manohar would have a soft corner for his fraternity and, as the head of the BCCI for a limited period, he would not like to annoy the judges/Supreme Court. He has, in fact, shown that he is ready to implement the recommendations, through several changes that he has effected since he took over the reins in October.

A day before he took charge on his terms, in an emergency caused by the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya, Manohar had met Lodha and was given hints at the changes the committee was going to propose. Within days, the winds of change had started blowing within the BCCI, as Manohar got the Board constitution uploaded on its website for the first time ever.

He also started disclosing, on a monthly basis, details of payments of Rs 25 lakh and above made by the BCCI to various parties.

Then, at the working committee and a special general body meetings on 19 February, Manohar again showed whose writ runs in the Board at the moment. The gathering authorised him (along with BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur) to take the Board's and state associations' objections to the Lodha Committee's recommendations to the Supreme Court. The court hears the matter on 3 March.

The Centre's silence

There is another factor that can't be missed in this saga, though it is not directly related to cricket. The Central government, despite many of its prominent politicians and MPs being part of the BCCI, has maintained studied silence over the first as well as the second Lodha Committee report.

One can argue that the silence was due to obvious reasons - the order had come from the top court of the country, so criticising it in public could have invited reprimand or more. But the other reason could be that perhaps even the government has to come to accept the fact that a reform of the BCCI was now inevitable.

Things became apparent when the first Lodha Committee report on the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal was released in July last year, and the Supreme Court ordered implementation of the recommendations enshrined in that.

Accordingly, the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals IPL teams were suspended for two years, and Gurunath Meiyappan of CSK and Rajasthan Royals' co-owner Raj Kundra were barred for life from involvement in any type of cricket activities.

It was obvious that the second report could only make things worse, from the BCCI's perspective.

True to expectations, the second report was more hard-hitting than the first one, considering the ramifications it would have on the BCCI's immediate future and alsothe long run. It was a potential game changer.

Former CBI joint director Ravi Sawani, who investigated the 2013 IPL betting-spot-fixing case for the BCCI before the Supreme Court appointed the Mukul Mudgal Committee for another thorough probe, said it was time changes were effected in the BCCI.

"Definitely, the BCCI needs a complete change. No doubt," Sawani, the founding director of the BCCI's Anti-Corruption Unit, told this reporter.

Resistance expected
The final word in the BCCI saga is yet to be said, chiefly because its administrators will not relinquish their monopoly so easily.

Officials of the associations that the Lodha Committee Report has suggested for demotion will particularly be seething, if the Supreme Court insists on the implementation of 'one state-one vote'.

If that suggestion is implemented in its entirety, full member associations like Saurashtra, Baroda, Vidarbha, Indian Railways, Association of Indian Universities, and the Services Sports Control Board would be dealt a severe blow, as they would then be automatically made associate members.

All in all, a lot of action could still be left. An indication of which direction the story is headed will be available on 3 March when the Supreme Court hears - and possibly decides once and for all - the objections that the BCCI and its affiliated associations have over the some game-changing recommendations of the Lodha Committee. Till then, everyone will have their fingers crossed.

India's hockey legend KD Singh ‘Babu’: Forgotten in his own city and state

Qaiser Mohammad Ali, www.JantaKaReporter.com

Managing Editor

@AlwaysCricket

The name KD Singh ‘Babu’ might not ring a bell with many people of today’s cricket-crazy generation. He was one of the best-known hockey legends; people who had seen his magical stick work rate him either at par with hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, some a notch higher.

That Kunwar Digvijay Singh ‘Babu’, who excelled while playing at the inside-right position, won two Olympic gold medals as captain (1952) and vice-captain (1948) of the Indian teams is a historic fact. But not many people would probably know is that he was also pretty good at several other sports. He was a more-than-competent cricketer – he hammered three centuries, including a double hundred, in the Sheesh Mahal Tournament in Lucknow — a master shooter/hunter, and a competent golfer and tennis player.

The ancestral home of hockey legend KD Singh ‘Babu’ as it looks today in Barabanki city, 27 kms from Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state. Photo: Qaiser Mohammad Ali

For his priceless contribution to hockey, ‘Babu’ was awarded the Helms Trophy in 1952 by the American Helms Foundation – the first Asian to receive the honour — while the Indian government conferred Padma Shri on him in 1958.

Despite his great achievements, KD Singh ‘Babu’ today is virtually completely forgotten in the city he was born in 1923, Barabanki, and in Lucknow, just 27 kilometres away, where he studied and played most of his hockey. Apart from the two stadiums being named after him, in Lucknow and Barabanki, nothing else is done to introduce the present generation of hockey players to the legend, whose name could be used to motivate them to gain greater glory.

The only occasion in a year when KD Singh’s name is remembered is when the under-14 hockey tournament is organised by the KD Singh ‘Babu’ Hockey Society in Lucknow. Incidentally, the 26^th edition of the tournament is presently on, with the final scheduled for February 6 – four days after the legend’s 93^rd birth anniversary on February 2.

The ignored plaque at the ‘Kunwar Digvijay Singh ‘Babu’ Marg’ (road) in Barabanki city, near Lucknow. Photo: Qaiser Mohammad Ali

“We, the ‘Babu’ Hockey Society, organise this tournament. We manage to get some sponsors to patronise this tournament, which is played at the KD Singh ‘Bbau’ Stadium. Last year we celebrated the silver jubilee of the tournament and gave Rs 10 lakh as prize money to five teams, thanks to our sponsors,” Syed Ali, a hockey Olympian and technical secretary of the Society, told jantakareporter.com.

“This year the prize money for the winners is Rs 1 lakh, the losing finalists will receive Rs 50,000 and the third placed team will get Rs 25,000 ,” said Syed Ali, who had special affinity for ‘Babu’ as he was coached and groomed by him.

“I was fortunate enough to have learnt the game from him for five years, from 1972 to 1975,” said the man who was part of the Indian team that won two silver medals at the Asian Games.

Kunwar Dhirendra Singh ‘Commander’, son of KD Singh ‘Babu’, too rues the failure of successive Uttar Pradesh governments to recognise the immense contribution his legendary father made to Uttar Pradesh’s and India’s fortunes as a player, coach and later as an administrator.

“He did not get his due,” Dhirendra Singh told jantakreporter.com, sitting in front of a couple giant photos of his father, a poster-size painting and the Helms Trophy, in the drawing room of his Lucknow residence.

Dhirendra Singh clarified that by “lack of recognition” he did not mean that the government should give the family of ‘Babu’ money, but that the honour could come in many different ways. “There has virtually been no recognition from the government, except the naming of the two stadiums after him,” he said ruefully.

“As a tribute to the legend, the KD Singh ‘Babu’ Society organises a tournament every year in his name,” Dhirendra Singh points out. “Besides that, the ‘Babu’ Society runs an academy for boys between age of five and 18 years in Lucknow. Presently, there are about 70 boys at the academy.”

Apart from these stadiums named after KD Singh ‘Babu’, a road in Barabanki is also named after legend. But the district administration’s apathy towards the versatile hockey player is starkly visible from the stone plaques on both ends of the road. They are completely invisible behind paper bills and outgrown bushes while a bill board on top of the plaques, on the edge of Lucknow-Faizabad highway, attract all the attention (see photo).

This, despite the ancestral home of ‘Babu’ (see photo), as well as a cabinet minister of Akhilesh Yadav’s government and a senior Rajya Sabha member of the Congress party having their residences on the same road.

KD Singh ‘Babu’ was a man of principles and he never compromised with that, said Dhirendra Singh, who himself was a good cricketer. He said that but for a word of recommendation from his influential father he might have progressed further in the game.

“When I asked my father if he could put in a word, he told me firmly not to expect him to seek favours for my selection,” he said, recalling those words that he still clearly remembers.

KD Singh, who attended a Government School in Barabanki and Kanyakubj Inter College in Lucknow, was a truly multi-faceted personality who also served as coach of the Indian hockey team that competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Dhirendra Singh has many tales to tell about his famous father – the player, the sports administrator, and the man. He, however, candidly admits that by the time he grew up and started understand the game his father, one of the six brothers, had retired.

What Dhirendra Singh does remember is watching his father work as a sports administrator. As a cricketer, KD Singh scored three “classical” centuries in the Sheesh Mahal Tournament, now discontinued, he said. “He would play cricket with a hockey stick in the nets,” informed Dhirendra Singh.

In hockey circles in Lucknow, a story goes that ‘Babu’ would dribble the hockey ball from Barabanki to Lucknow, all of 27 kilometres. But Dhirendra Singh says it was not true, though he was an early riser and would train every morning with utmost sincerity.

“My father had a strict regimen. He would have dinner at exactly at 9 pm and go to sleep at 9.30 pm. He would wake up at 4 am for training. He would do dribbling, running and brisk walking for about eight kilometres every morning,” said Dhirendra Singh.

KD Singh ‘Babu’, who served as Director Sports in Uttar Pradesh, was instrumental in setting up the present-day Lucknow Sports College and Sports Hostels, said his son.

“He was offered the post of Director of National Institute of Sports in Patiala when it was opened. He was also offered several coaching jobs outside Uttar Pradesh. Hong Kong government wanted him to settle down in the city-state,” said Dhirendra Singh. “But he was disillusioned with the prevailing system [in India].”

Dhirendra Singh also said that his father was kind hearted person. “After India’s war with China, ‘Babu’ offered to donate one of his Olympic medals to help the soldiers. But the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister CB Gupta declined it, saying that the medal was a national honour,” he informed.

EXCLUSIVE: Did a top DDCA official sabotage India-Sri Lanka T20 tie in Delhi?

Qaiser Mohammad Ali, www.JantaKaReporter.com

@AlwaysCricket

It has now emerged that a top DDCA administrator “never wanted the India-Sri Lanka T20 International to be played at the Kotla” and that was why the “news” of DDCA having been allotted the match was “deliberately” kept away from retired justice Mukul Mudgal, who was to oversee this match.

According to multiple sources, this DDCA administer, who has widely shown his “displeasure” at the appointment of justice Mudgal to conduct matches due to the association’s inability to perform this task competently, didn’t let the “news” of the Sri Lanka match, scheduled for February 12, 2016, reach the former chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

DDCA insiders say that the attempt to “self-destruct” by this DDCA official is bewildering and his act has cost the association a handsome income, which will now be earned by Jharkhand Cricket Association, where the T20 Match has been shifted to by the BCCI.

DDCA officials cannot say that they were unaware that the Sri Lanka match was to be played in Delhi in February due to some hard facts.

Consider these facts: Eight months ago, the BCCI’s Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee, at a meeting held in Kolkata on May 24, had allotted the India-Sri Lanka T20 International to Delhi (besides Visakhapatnam and Pune). The BCCI duly announced this through a press release the same day.

The BCCI press release had specifically said: “Sri Lanka will play 3 T20 Internationals in February 2016.” The exact dates were announced later.

Another fact is that DDCA club secretary Sunil Jain, then a member of the Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee, had attended that meeting and had duly informed his DDCA colleagues about the outcome of that meeting, besides the BCCI separately intimating the association about it being allotted the match.

It was expected of the DDCA to have started preparations for this match well in time, instead of leaving it till the eleventh hour to seek permissions.

Then, on 14 November, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, in an email addressed to Chetan Chauhan and SP Bansal (accessed by JantaKaReporter.com), the supposed ‘working president’ and ‘suspended president’ respectively, reminded them that since the DDCA had been allotted the India-Sri Lanka T20 match and ICC World Twenty20 games, the association should get all permissions in “accordance of the laws of the land and the guidelines of the ICC”.

However, sources say that neither Thakur’s email nor the news of allotment of the India-Sri Lanka T20 International was shared with some key people, including Mudgal, who on directions of the Delhi High Court had supervised the fourth India-South Africa Test in Delhi last month.

Former DDCA director Suresh Chopra, who was responsible for securing all permissions for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 matches at the Kotla and also the India-Sri Lanka T20 game, said that Chauhan told Mudgal for the first time about Sri Lanka match only on 24 January, which was too late to get all required permissions from government agencies.

It is quite possible that Mudgal had not heard about the Sri Lanka match being allotted to the DDCA before 24 January when he called a meeting of a DDCA core committee at his residence.

Chopra said that he immediately set about applying for permissions with the various government agencies, except MCD, the very next day.

“During a meeting with Mr Mudgal on 24 January, Chauhan told him that the DDCA had been allotted an India-Sri Lanka T20 International too. Before that meeting, I had already applied with government agencies, barring the MCD, for the requisite permission for staging ICC World Twenty20 matches,” Chopra told jantakareporter.com.

“After Chauhan told Mudgal about the Sri Lanka match, I immediately issued a corrigendum to all the government departments the next day [25 January], signed by Chauhan, saying that in addition to the ICC World Twenty20 matches, the DDCA would also need permission to stage an India-Sri Lanka T20 match on 12 February. And we even got permissions from some departments,” Chopra explained. “I was not responsible for applying permission from the MCD as that responsibility was of Chauhan, treasurer Ravinder Manchanda and Siddharth Singh Verma (DDCA director).”

It is pertinent to note that Mudgal had praised the work done by Suresh Chopra in his report on the India-South Africa Test, played in Delhi last month, submitted with the Delhi High Court. “Mr. Suresh Chopra, venue manager for the Test match, who was entrusted with the task of seeking permissions from various departments at the last minute, did his job day and night diligently. It was only with his concerted help and persistent efforts that permissions could be obtained from the various departments at such short notice,” Mudgal had written, besides praising some other DDCA officials.

However, the moot question being asked by some DDCA directors is: Why did the DDCA official deliberately supress the news of Delhi being allotted the India-Sri Lanka T20 game, and whether he is bigger than the association?

“One particular DDCA official went around saying that he was not happy at the appointment of Mudgal to supervise international matches at the Kotla as he had ‘hampered’ his freedom to work as per his whim and fancy. This official was not allowed to have is say by Mudgal, who instead stuck to transparency ways of working in everything he supervised — and that seemed to have annoyed this official as he is known for his non-transparent ways of working,” said a source.

Interestingly, a few colleagues of this DDCA official wanted the appointment of Mudgal to supervise international matches at the Kotla and for that they moved an application in the Delhi High Court.

Now that the BCCI has shifted the Sri Lanka match to Ranchi, it remains to be seen if this DDCA official would be held responsible for the huge embarrassment cause to the association, besides monetary loss, and punished. Going by the DDCA’s history, it is highly unlikely.

There could be more embarrassment coming DDCA’s way. The BCCI has given the DDCA a deadline of 31 January to secure all permissions for the ICC World Twenty20, otherwise those 10 matches would also be relocated to other venues. If that happens it would mean no World Cup matches in national capital – in other words, more capital embarrassment for the mismanaged DDCA. And the story goes on.

DDCA CRICKET CORRUPTION: AAM AADMI PARTY ONLY TOLD 30%-40% OF WHOLE TRUTH, WILL DO BIG DISCLOSURE WITH WIKILEAKS ON SUNDAY, THUNDERS KIRTI AZAD

Qaiser Mohammad Ali

@AlwaysCricket

BJP MP Kirti Azad said on Thursday that he was going to make a big “khulasa” (disclosure) about the alleged “rampant corruption” in the Delhi and District Association (DDCA) at a press conference with Wikileaks on Sunday.

 Kirti, a former India Test player, said that the disclosures that the Aam Aadmi Party made about corruption in the Delhi and District Association (DDCA) was only “35 per cent to 40 per cent” of the material he has and that he was going to reveal much more.

“It was huge but it was very little compared to what I have. I don’t know where they got their information from, though it was correct. But many of the facts they could not put properly, like it was not ‘lakhon ka…[corruption]’ but it was ‘karoron ka…’. Right?” he said.

“The corporate boxes were not given unauthorisedly; it was unauthorised construction [of the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium]. A notice was sent by L&DO (Land and Development Office) to the DDCA, [saying] that they would re-enter [an agreement with the DDCA],” said Azad, who has been leading the crusade against corruption in the DDCA that he once represented.

“There were quite a few [issues], about which I am going to do a ‘khulasa’ [disclosure] with Wikileaks at 4 pm on Sunday,” he said.