Does The BCCI Control The ICC And The World Of Cricket?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest board of cricket among its nine other members of the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is a national cricket governing body in India independent of any corporate governance laws, operating under full autonomous power single-handedly. There have been several instances – popular or not – of the recurrent feud between ICC and BCCI regarding who controls whom. ICC may be an international body, yet BCCI does hold a strong influence over it for some apparent reasons.

Firstly, BCCI generates large sums of income and revenue through domestic tournaments. It is the most prosperous board of cricket, worth Rs. 3,308 crores. The Indian Premier League (IPL) provides the main impetus for this amount of revenue. Also, partnering with Star Sports for media and broadcasting rights, it reaches a wide range of audiences within and outside the country. It is not just any tournament, but a festival celebrated nationwide with huge spectatorship given the population size. IPL also gives a head start to various cricketers, national or international, boosting their careers. Examples include Shane Watson, Ryan Harris, and Shaun Marsh, who improved their game significantly after participating in IPL. Among Indian players are Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary, and many more. IPL has taken cricket to the next level, competing in popularity with NBA and EFL.

BCCI, as many like to call it, is the ‘golden goose’ of ICC, an asset that contributes a major proportion to it. There have been instances that prove BCCI’s influence over ICC and how this power play gets them to do everything according to their likes. In the popular Sydney Test match in January 2008, famous umpire Steve Bucknor had settled on a few disputable choices that assisted Australia in dominating the game. BCCI, before long stepped in, and Bucknor was replaced in the following match; Bucknor blamed India’s monetary power for his ouster. In a similar Test, there was another undesirable occurrence Bhajji-Symonds’ “Monkey-Gate” incident. Harbhajan was restricted for three matches at first, yet it was lifted following a serious dissent by the Indian group and the BCCI.

There have been a few examples where the ICC’s dynamic has been fundamentally impacted by the tricks tossed in by the BCCI. At the point when the Decision Review System (DRS) was presented by the ICC in 2008 as a compulsory technique to be utilized in matches to guarantee on-spot right choices, it was solidly gone against by the BCCI. Although most of the cricket-playing countries supported this method, the ICC adjusted the principles of the DRS framework on account of the harsh resistance of the BCCI. The ICC utilized DRS non-obligatory and guaranteed that the framework will be executed in matches exclusively by the common agreement of the countries playing a specific cricket series or tournament.

Besides, the Indian team in the past has generally been a survivor of “double standards” by the ICC. Numerous occurrences can be reviewed where Indian or the sub-continent players were penalized by match referees while British or Australian players were cautioned and let off in more serious situations. They couldn’t see a Lee or Johnson or Andre Nel sledging Indian batsmen, however, when Sreesanth did likewise to different teams, he was rebuffed. A lot more such incidents took place, but the significant thing here is that ICC has had a weakness for British, Australian or South African. The Code of Conduct is by all accounts different for them and the subcontinental players. This is where BCCI lets everyone know who’s the boss. They are the ones who direct terms. Furthermore, no matter how powerful the BCCI is, the Indian team has always kept up the spirit of sportsmanship in the field regardless of corporate power play. 

The umpires, as well, aren’t any exception to BCCI’s harshness. Daryl Harper resigned from the game in 2011 in the wake of being vigorously reprimanded by the BCCI following a couple of inaccurate choices in a series between India and the West Indies. Harper said he was leaving the game hurt, even though the ICC supported the veteran umpire who retired from cricket with an impressive record of 96% correct choices in tests including India. Harper, however, wasn’t the first umpire to go under pressure from the BCCI. The previously mentioned 2008 Border-Gavaskar series saw BCCI compress the ICC to eliminate Steve Bucknor from the series post a few dubious choices in the Sydney test. This is the kind of might BCCI triumph over the world of cricket. In addition, recently ICC cancelled the world cup tour following COVID-19 protocols and precautions. While BCCI sees an opportunity to conduct the domestic IPL League anyway. Why are the rules different for BCCI? That is worth wondering about!