(S.Ravi Seshu)
For ages, Indian cricket was controlled by a strong Mumbai lobby. The clout enjoyed by Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar, in that order, for the last three decades is an open secret.
Ever since their flamboyant cricket star Ravi Shastri couldn’t make it to the most coveted post of Indian Chief Cricket Coach, Mumbai lobby is showing its frustration in one way or the other. Mumbai-based media comes up with wonderful stories to back up their cricketers with ‘jingoistic (yes, they think that Mumbai only represents India) zeal’ and cheap regional fervor.
As soon as Karnataka’s Anil Kumble was favoured as the coach by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) consists Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai), Sourav Ganguly (Kolkata) and VVS Laxman (Hyderabad), the former Indian Team Director Ravi Shastri openly displayed his unsportiveness.
Initially he said that he got disappointed because he was denied to carry forward the 18-month-long good work put up by him. Later he fired a salvo against Ganguly “for having failed to join Sachin and Laxman when he was on skype call from Bangkok.
A Mumbai-based newspaper DNA reported that VVS Laxman is the second largest shareholder in Kumble’s company, Tenvic Sports Education Private Limited. He held (and continues to hold) 33,332 shares in the company at the time of the selection, it maintained. The story did cast aspersions on the Very Very Special’s professional ethics.
Rubbishing the story, the BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke said: “Mr. Laxman informed BCCI that he had sold his total shareholding of 5 per cent in Tenvic Sport in the month of March 2016 and also declared that he no longer held any shareholding or any official or unofficial position in Tenvic Sports. This took place prior to the commencement of the operations of this Committee.”
He further added: “Mr. Laxman was therefore in no position of a conflict of interest at the time of selection of the head coach of Indian cricket team. All assumptions and conclusions to that effect are therefore erroneous.”
Meanwhile, Mumbai Mirror, another Mumbai-based popular newspaper, said that Laxman and Ganguly share a employer-employee relationship at the Cricket Association of Bengal. According to the report, Ganguly appointed Laxman as batting consultant for CAB’s Vision 20-20 in July 2014. Laxman is paid Rs 60 lakhs for working for 30 days a year for CAB, with Rs 5000 as daily allowances. CAB also takes care of his boarding and lodging.
Such stories will keep on appearing till Jumbo Kumble delivers good results continuously.
