Madan Lal opens up on BCCI's 'conflict of interest' policy

Former India all-rounder Madan Lal spoke his mind on the ‘conflict of interest’ problem that seems to be plaguing Indian cricket. Talking to Sportskeeda’s Indranil Basu in an exclusive chat, Madan Lal said that one should be allowed to do multiple jobs since an honorary post with a cricket board would not fill one’s pockets.

“For example, if I join DDCA, should I leave my own academy? How do I let it go? I earn my bread there. I’m not earning from DDCA. I don’t believe in these honorary posts. If you’re doing a job, you should get paid for it,” Madan Lal told us.

“Give the responsibility to the person and pay for it. That is how a professional should do it. While these conflicts of interest may happen, there are several problems with it, and we need to solve these problems,” Madan Lal added.

The BCCI’s conflict on interest policy has seen legends like Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid appear before the BCCI ethics officer Justice (retired) DK Jain in the past. Sourav Ganguly had to appear before the ethics officer when he held the position of chief of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), while also being an advisor to the Delhi Capitals.

Rahul Dravid, on the other hand, was summoned by Justice Jain since his position as NCA Head clashed with his employment as the vice-president of India Cements, the owners of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings.

Madan Lal believes one should be allowed to work outside of their role with the BCCI

Speaking about Sourav Ganguly doing endorsements while being the BCCI president, Madan Lal was in support of the move. According to him, allowing an individual to earn money outside of a role with the BCCI would keep them away from trying to unfairly make money from the cricket board.

“Yeah, why not? Are you saying that I should become BCCI president, I should go there and take bribes and make money? I can’t do that. I can’t come to this stage and do bad work. That is wrong. I feel he should be allowed to do other work as well..There should be one or two jobs where the person is earning money. If one stops earning money, he’ll look to unfair means for the same,” Madan Lal said.