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

After a long wait, the BCCI appointed its first ever CEO, in the form of Rahul Johri. According to you, is this an eye wash that will restrict him to a titular role or is he going to have any serious impact on how the sport is run in this country?

It’s a very interesting time for Indian cricket. And because so much change is happening so fast, it’s difficult to assess whether the change has been led by a new perspective within the BCCI, or whether it’s a result of managing the judiciary and committees’ expectations. So, we have a dilemma as to whether the board is being proactive or reactive.

And here, one should give credit where it’s due. Since Shashank Manohar’s term in 2015 began, there has been a visible and conscious effort to improve systems and instill better practices. Is it too little too late? Possibly it’s not enough now that the court and the Indian public wants so much more, but implementation and aligning of everyone’s expectations will be very difficult to achieve.

In the case of the new CEO position, we still know very little about the roles and responsibilities, and whether the tenure and obligations will be in line with the Justice Lodha Committees’ recommendation. In fact, the concept of a CEO and CFO has been in place for the BCCI since October basis the recommendations of the consulting firms it has hired to help it transform and professionalise. So it does seem to be a genuine board-led initiative.

We’ll need to wait and see how open the board is to letting go of control and delegating key responsibilities. My guess is that the final outcome will be somewhere in between, but it’s really too soon to say.

Hypothetical question: say tomorrow, the very BCCI that you have criticised on certain aspects hires you to fight its cases on similar issues, will you take it up?

That’s a tricky question, and the answer, unfortunately, isn’t as clear-cut as I’d like it to be. Yes, I have criticised numerous aspects of the IPL and the board’s functioning, and I think now that I’ve authored a book that in a way is a cited /sourced tell-all and roadmap, it would be difficult to assume a role if ever asked that toes the past line and lack of transparency. If however I was asked to advise or provide solutions on certain aspects that I have highlighted or hinted at in ‘

If however I was asked to advise or provide solutions on certain aspects that I have highlighted or hinted at in ‘Not Out!’ it would be hypocritical and unfair of me to not provide my limited expertise towards helping improve and clean the systems in line with global best industry practices. In my mind, I have set down what I feel should and can be done, and I feel my job with that is done. Let’s just say that I’m not waiting with bated breath for an email or telephone call.

Your book has grabbed attention and is sure to end up becoming extremely successful, what next for Desh Gaurav Sekhri?

Thank you - I do hope the book does end up being quite successful. This is actually a time when I feel I’m on the verge of completing one phase of my professional and writing career- which leads back to your astute question earlier about life having come full-circle. To complete the full circle, I am now writing a book on sport and the economics & law of it in India and how each compares to the rest of the world.

Over the next couple of months, I am also moving from a strictly legal role to a strategy, policy, and implementation role which for me is very exciting, and a culmination of what I have been working towards. From a writing perspective, I am eager to resume writing columns, and to work on another narrative in the sports space, for which I need to start brainstorming.

For now, though, my sole and fervent hope is that ‘Not Out!’ achieves the goals we have set for it, and in whatever way it can, shapes thought in the discourse on the IPL and its way forward.

Buy the book online here.