Ramachandra Guha surprised at absence of male cricketer from CoA

Ramachandra Guha wants an experienced male cricketer in the CoA

What's the story?

Ramachandra Guha, respected historian and a former member of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) to ensure smooth functioning of the BCCI, has once again questioned the absence of an experienced male cricketer from the CoA. “I left six-seven months ago. Why has not Mr. [Vinod] Rai got a senior cricketer on his committee in these seven months?” quipped Guha at the fourth Times Literature Festival in Bangalore on February 3.

In case you didn't know..

The Supreme Court of India had appointed the CoA in January 2017 to run the BCCI, with their main aim being to implement the recommendations of the Lodha Committee. Initially, the members included Guha, former India Women's captain Diana Edulji, former CAG of India Vinod Rai and senior banker Vikram Limaye. However, Guha resigned from his post in June 2017, with the possible reason of the CoA unable to implement the required changes in the board despite having set a target of six months to do the same.

And just a month later, in July, Limaye left the CoA to focus on the job of heading the National Stock Exchange (NSE), thus reducing the number of members to two on the committee with Rai and Edulji still present.

The heart of the matter

Guha, who had recently questioned in an article the appointment of a modestly-experienced Ravi Shastri as the coach of the Indian team following the unfortunate resignation of the veteran Anil Kumble, was surprised that there was still no male cricketer in the group of administrators even after a year and despite the departure of two members. “I think the tragedy of the CoA from the beginning was that they didn’t have a senior male cricketer of credibility,” he said. “There was a civil servant [Rai], a banker [Limaye], a historian [Guha] and Diana, who was a very good female cricketer. And she was the only one who understood the game from the female point of view.

“From the first day, I told my colleagues there is nothing stopping you from having a senior cricketer on the committee as a special invitee. Don’t call him a member because the Supreme Court has said four members. Call him a special invitee. I resigned six months ago and still there is no senior cricketer on board. So I think that is tragic.”

Author's Take

Claims from a person with a wealth of experience and knowledge as Guha should always be considered for the betterment of the game in India. Not only was he spot on in pointing out coach Shastri lacking in a bit of experience, but also that if the CoA can have a former female cricketer, there is no reason which prevents them from getting on board an experienced male counterpart to better help in the administration procedures.