Commentators can’t have conflict of interest’

New Delhi,The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the Indian cricket board (BCCI) today finalised the names of commentators for India’s upcoming home season and IPL 2018. The names include Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Harsha Bhogle and Murali Kartik, according to BCCI sources.
But there’s a catch. All four have been asked by CoA chairman Vinod Rai and member Diana Edulji to submit a “letter of undertaking” to BCCI that they have no ‘conflict of interest’ pertaining to their commentary contract.
While Manjrekar, Bhogle and Kartik don’t seem to have any direct conflict, the same can’t be said about Gavaskar. Apart from his regular commentary job, the former Indian captain owns the Professional Management Group (PMG), India’s first sports marketing company, which he had started in 1985.
Gavaskar also been writing sponsored columns on cricket for various media houses under the PMG umbrella, while his company specialises in syndicated columns of top national and international cricketers. Besides, he is also contracted to a leading English news channel as a cricket expert.
All this, according to the Justice RM Lodha Committee and former CoA member Ramachandra Guha, amounts to conflict of interest. The Lodha Committee had been of the view that since such former players are contracted to BCCI and get handsomely paid by it, they shouldn’t earn money from other sources till they give up their contracts with the board.
Now, with CoA and BCCI issuing a “rider” for commentators, are we going to see Gavaskar giving up his paid media engagements?
“Well, the choice is for him to make. Just like Ravi Shastri stopped commentating and writing columns for media houses after becoming India’s head coach, Gavaskar has to choose,” a BCCI official said.
Azharuddin’s case
Meanwhile, the meeting also saw CoA and BCCI ‘in-principle’ agreeing to accept former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s request for a one-time benefit and pension amount. It’s been reliably learnt that Azharuddin would be extended the benefit once BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry submits his report to Rai regarding the pending dues. BCCI’s legal team seemed to have suggested to the board that there’s no substantial ground to stop Azharuddin’s payments.
Azharuddin’s case, along with that of the commentators’ conflict issue, has been referred to BCCI’s General Body for final discussion and approval.
Azharuddin was suspended for life by BCCI on charges of match-fixing. But in 2012, the Andhra High Court had quashed all charges against him, making him eligible to receive the board’s financial grant.
Two days back, S Sreesanth’s life ban was also revoked by the Kerala High Court and the matter, according to Edulji, has been referred to BCCI’s legal team for further deliberations.
No Olympics participation
BCCI office-bearers have told CoA that they are against the idea of cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics, starting with the 2024 Paris Games. Most of them were of the view that coming under the Olympic charter would mean adhering to the contentious ‘whereabouts clause’ of the World Anti-Doping Agency. None of the top Indian cricketers are comfortable with the idea, citing breach to their privacy and security.
Pay hike of domestic cricketers
BCCI has also ‘in-principle’ agreed to increase the compensation for players in domestic cricket. It’s been decided that now onwards the amount would be directly credited to their bank accounts. At present, the domestic cricketers get around 1.5 lakh for a first class game, but the amount could be doubled. BCCI has also decided to reward the men’s and women’s national selectors with Rs 15 lakh each for the good performance of their respective teams.

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