Interview with Desh Sekhri: "By default we think everything is wrong with the IPL and therefore with cricket"

What off-field matter related to the running of Indian cricket are you concerned about the most? What have your recommendations about the same been?

One of the unique aspects of ‘Not Out!’ in my opinion is the fact that it not only points out and analyzes the credibility, governance and transparency issues in Indian cricket, but it also has assessed the possible future problems and how best to tackle them.

In some cases, even to pre-empt potentially harmful situations with minor tweaks- for example, recommending implementation of a player allocation draft rather than continuing with the player auction.

To me, restoring the integrity of the game is the single biggest issue, and this includes the lack of transparency, rampant conflict of interest, and a seeming inability to make inroads towards aligning expectations. We know too little about the workings of the IPL or cricket in India, in general, to be in a position to categorically say what’s wrong. Yes, there is, of course, a lot wrong with cricket and the IPL, but if one is objective, there is a lot right with it as well.

But what unequivocally is wrong with the IPL and with Indian cricket, is the complete lack of transparency. So what this has led to, is a bounty of public interest litigations on the back of the Supreme Court’s stern stance against the IPL and the BCCI, and the futuristic Justice Lodha Committees’ recommendations. Simply, it is the fear of and anger at not knowing what’s really happening. So by default, we think everything is wrong with the IPL and therefore with cricket.

This opinion has gained popularity because finally powerful entities are taking on the notoriously opaque BCCI. So, every single aspect of the board and the IPL’s functioning is scrutinised, and sadly in some cases, the IPL has even become a scapegoat. This is a dangerous line of thought to pursue. And, if pushed into a corner from every angle, the board and the IPL may just retaliate. Don’t forget, that in world cricket the BCCI is still the market leader by a huge margin, and there are quite a few cards it can play if pushed too far. The recent example of a board official hinting that the IPL may move from 2017 onwards is a good example of that.

You have covered the aspect of conflict of interest in your book. The issue is a little more nuanced than it seems because for the longest time, barring a couple of journalists, no one in India really cared much about multiple hat wearers.

What do you think is the reason people have woken up to this grave concern so late? Will the persistent effort to fight conflict last or is this just a momentary 'join the bandwagon' phase?

You’re absolutely right- barring a few respected journalists and sports activists conflict of interest was mostly left unexplored. But if there’s one thing that the spot-fixing scandal did, it was to ensure that conflict of interest has become a part and parcel of cricket awareness. And, it’s scrutiny, rectification and eventually the elimination of potentially compromising conflict of interest positions is a work in progress that should hopefully be successful.

The Supreme Court and it’s committees I think will focus on eliminating that component over time, and the duality of roles or using positions for unfair advantage are definitely going to be curbed over time and hopefully eliminated.

So, we have the spot-fixing controversy to thank for the court-appointed committees to be given the opportunity to closely scrutinize the workings of the IPL and the board, and in a way expose and educate the Indian fans about conflicts of interest.