Ramchandra Guha questions 'superstar' treatment to Dhoni, Dravid in his letter

NEW DELHI: Noted historian Ramchandra Guha, who quit from the Supreme Court-appointed BCCI Committee of Administrators (CoA), has raised the issue of conflict of interest against several cricket legends and lashed out at the preferential treatment meted out to some of them including Sunil Gavaskar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid. In his resignation letter addressed to CoA head Vinod Rai, Guha has questioned former India skipper-turned-commentator Gavaskar's conflict of interest besides raising fingers at former India batting stalwart and current India-A and Under-19 coach Dravid's association with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Daredevils. "No person under contract with an India team or with the NCA (National Cricket Academy) should be allowed to moonlight for an IPL team too," Guha's letter read. "The BCCI management is too much in awe of these superstars to question their violation of norms and procedures. For their part, BCCI office-bearers like to enjoy discretionary powers, so that the coaches or commentrators they favour are indebted to them and do not ever question their own mistakes or malpractices." Questioning the conflict of interest involving the superstars of Indian cricket, Guha wrote, the BCCI has accorded preferential treatment to some national coaches by giving them 10 month contracts for national duty, thus allowing them to work as IPL coaches/mentors for the remaining two months. Commenting on Dhoni being awarded a Grade A contract by the national cricket board despite the stumper bidding adieu to Test cricket, Guha wrote: "Unfortunately, this superstar syndrome has also distorted the system of Indian team contracts. As you will recall, I had pointed out that awarding Dhoni an 'A' contract when he had explicitly ruled himself out from all Test matches was indefensible on cricketing grounds, and sends absolutely the wrong message." Awarding Dhoni an 'A' contract when he had explicitly ruled himself out from all Test matches sends absolutely wrong mesage, said Guha. (PTI) Guha also pointed out Gavaskar's link with a player-management firm to question his dual role as a BCCI-contracted commentator. "Gavaskar is head of a company which represents Indian cricketers while commenting on those cricketers as part of the BCCI TV commentary panel," he said. He even attacked the way in which the contract of Indian cricket team head coach Anil Kumble was handled by the BCCI and accused the CoA of being "complicit" by its "silence and inaction". "In a system based on justice and merit, the Head Coach's term would have been extended. Instead, Kumble was left hanging, and then told the post would be re-advertised afresh," he said in his letter to Rai. Clearly, he said the issue had been handled in an "extremely insensitive and unprofessional manner" by the BCCI CEO and BCCI office-bearers, with the COA, "by its silence and inaction, unfortunately being complicit in this regard". Kumble issue had been handled in an "extremely insensitive and unprofessional manner" said Guha. (AFP) The four-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) has been appointed by the Supreme Court to implement the R.M. Lodha Committee recommendations on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).The CoA was appointed by the apex court on January 30, after the BCCI was reluctant to implement the Lodha panel recommendations. The Supreme Court will hear Guha's plea to relieve him on July 14.