'Srinivasan and Amit Shah running Indian cricket today'

For long now Ramachandra Guha 62 has been feeding the needs of history lovers across multiple spheres But cricket is a large part of his world and he has shown that yet again through his new book The Commonwealth of CricketA Lifelong Love Affair with the Most Subtle and Sophisticated Game Known to Humankind published by HarperCollins imprint Fourth EstateAnecdotes have always been at the heart of Guhas history lessons and this book has him playing true to formBut followers of the willow game will not only view him as a brilliant storyteller He will also be remembered for being part of the Supreme Courtappointed Committee of Administrators CoA to ensure the Board of Control for Cricket in India was run by the rulebookSourav Gangulys current stint as BCCI president has not found favour with Guha an exCoA member PicSuresh KarkeraWhen he quit the Vinod Railed panel in June 2017 it was obvious that his expectations of fair play were not met He says he has moved on from the CoA days but the insight he has provided of that phase will give a good measure of fodder for future works of Indian cricket historyIndeed Guha has played yet another gem of an innings He may not receive the same kind of kudos he deservedly attracted for A Corner of a Foreign Field he will surely not be sent an appreciative bouquet by the BCCI but the average cricket lover would call this effort a quick entertaining century of sortsEdited excerpts from the interviewThe Commonwealth of Cricket A Lifelong Love Affair with the Most Subtle and Sophisticated Game Known to Humankind In other words your cricketing autobiographyNot an autobiography more of a memoir An autobiography is about yourself and your achievements A memoir is more about what you saw and observed There is a fine line between autobiography and memoir If you want to call it a cricketing autobiography thats fine But its a very personal story of one individuals ride with cricketmdashas a player a fan a spectator a writer and right at the end an administratorFormer Committee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai who according to Guha didnrsquot handle the KohliKumble feud well PicGetty ImagesAccidental Administrator one of the chapter heads is an apt way to describe your foray into cricket administration When you resigned as a member of the CoA did the satisfactory aspects of your term outweigh the ones which you were not happy aboutIt didnt N Srinivasan and Amit Shah are effectively running Indian cricket today The state associations are run by somebodys daughter somebodys son The Board is steeped in intrigue and nepotism and there are great delays in paying Ranji Trophy players their dues The reforms that were hoped for have not happenedYou have written about how uncomfortable you were about Virat Kohli not wanting to work with head coach Anil Kumble What would you have done to ensure they continued working togetherAll of us were kept in the dark I think the chairman of the CoA Mr Rai if it a rift was brewing should have had a conversation with both of them Kohli and Kumble in 2017 After all he is a wise and experienced administrator He just gave in to one side without hearing the other It was handled very badlyYou have more than just touched upon the conflict of interest issue in the book Would you say this is the biggest bane of Indian cricketNot the biggest bane it is a bane Look at Ganguly todaymdashhead of the Board and representing some cricket fantasy game This kind of greed for money among Indian cricketers is shocking The most telling story in my book is about Bishan Singh Bedi saying that he is happy to go to Kabul to coach Afghan cricketersmdashanywhere for cricket and not anywhere for money Why should Ganguly be doing all these things for a little extra money Ethical standards go down if the president of the Board behaves like thisDifferences between head coach Anil Kumble left and captain Virat Kohli surfaced in 2017 They are here at a net session in Basseterre Saint Kitts on July 13 2016 PicAFPYour story about Bishan Singh Bedi being ever ready to coach in Afghanistan is a classic example of his love and passion for cricket Is it fair to say that you are like hima nonfence sitterYes of course I expressed my mind I tried working in committees We call a spade a spade and we are bluntYou mention in the book that one of the disappointments during your term as CoA member was not being able to convince the powers to celebrate Vinoo Mankads birth centenary in 2017That was terribly sad He was the greatest player ever They could have named one match the Vinoo Mankad special matchof the IPLYour book provides an insight into what happened behind the scenes during the CoA years But what do you tell people who supported the establishments way of doing things Some people feel the CoA years were a complete waste of time and in fact took Indian cricket backThis book is about much more than my stint so I dont want to dwell too much on that Im not involved any more so I cant prescribe what to do Conflict of interest is bad What Ganguly is doing now is incorrect and no other country would allow it Gags on commentators are bad That Sanjay Manjrekar has to beg to be readmitted in the commentary team is pathetic Why should the Board have power over commentary Its absurd It never happens anywhere in the world Can you imagine the English Premier League doing thisGreat allrounder Wasim Akram is Guhas favourite Pakistani cricketer of all time Here he celebrates the dismissal of Englands Graham Thorpe in the 2001 Test series PicGetty ImagesAre we getting carried away with the IPL being treated as the premier domestic cricket tournamentIts important that Ranji Trophy is not neglected Its sad that those players have not been paid I feel sad as someone who grew up in the era of Ranji Trophy being prominent The Ranji Trophy prepares you better for Test cricket much better than IPLmdashto play a long inningsmdashto learn to bowl and take wickets in different conditionsYou indicate that Mumbais loss to Karnataka in the 197374 Ranji Trophy semifinal was a turning point in domestic cricket Why do you feel soIts because Bombay were invincible Karnataka beating Bombay gave other teams hope Bombay had won so comprehensively for so many years 15 Ranji Trophy titles on the trot There was never a close match too When Karnataka beat Bombay Bedi who was captain of Delhi felt he had a chance as well The game spread across all across India once Bombay stopped winning as a matter of habit Karnataka opened the door for other states to have an ambition to win Without Karnataka winning in 1974 it would be hard to think that you would have a MS Dhoni from Jharkhand becoming Indias greatest player Of course there were other things that contributed like our World Cup win television taking the game everywhere but symbolically that Karnataka winning was hugely important That a team other than Bombay could win was very important in giving hope and ambition to Ranji Trophy teams everywhere Karnataka beating Bombay was a very important moment in Indian cricket history and I was happy to be there to watch itOn the other hand is Mumbais 41 titles unbelievable to youIt is absolutely unbelievable that one city wins that many titles Of course cricket started in Bombay as I explained in my earlier book A Corner of a Foreign Field but it 41 times champions is still truly amazingIn the book you come across as a great admirer of writers Neville Cardus and Jack Fingleton Would they rank as number one and two or the other way around in your ratingNo Firstly I dont believe in rankings Im an admirer of them but Im also an admirer of Gideon Haigh Scyld Berry Suresh Menon Going back to the title of the book you glory in everythingmdashIndian Pakistani Australian cricketers You glory in club school college cricket I admired many writers First I admired Cardus I admired Fingleton but I also admire contemporary writers like Michael Atherton The game has changed so much so to write about the game today you need different skills If you want me to name one writer from the past who is dead I would choose Fingleton over Cardus Cardus is too romantic while Fingleton having been a Test player himself understood the game much more closelyIn fact you quote Fingleton as saying The longer I live I am pleased to say the less nationalistic I become Do you think that is testament to Fingletons right perception of how the game has to reported onAbsolutelymdashreported understood and you glory in whatever there is The older I get I enjoy Test matches in which India are not playing You can enjoy them much more freelyYou watched a lot of cricket from the stands Can you describe that joyI will But the Commonwealth of Cricket is not just Test cricket I watch a lot of club cricket follow the same club for the last 50 years I will go and watch FUCC Friends Union Cricket Club play with my uncle and a few boys I will go and watch Karnataka play with only 100 people watching I can go to a Test match Watching from the stands is greater fun You get a sense of how people are reacting but I like watching cricket live and not necessary Test cricket The point of the book is that my love for cricket is not only when India plays but when Karnataka plays a school match tooYou seem to be in favour of India v Pakistan contests which will not gain universal acceptanceOf course I would like them to play and some of my best memories are there in IndiaPakistan cricket Im in favour of not treating Pakistani cricketers as enemies Im in favour of appreciating the great Pakistani cricketers At the moment resumption seems impossibleWho is your favourite Pakistani cricketerIts a tough one I would say Wasim Akram because he was such a subtle magical bowler His skills with the ball were just unbelievable He was a fast bowler who you could enjoy for aesthetic pleasure and not because of terrifying the batsmanAnd you write that an India v Pak series be played for the Tendulkar TrophyThats my hopeKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news