BCCI: Board of Control for Cricket Intimidation

	No ICL players please © Getty Images

This week's news that the BCCI is throwing its toys around the cricket sandpit because former international player-cum-pundit Craig 'Macca' McMillan might be part of New Zealand cricket channel Sky TV's commentary team is yet another insane, petty and trivial piece of muscle-flexing.

Niranjan Shah was embarrassing on TV3 on Friday night, saying that the BCCI had made a request to the NZC board to ban anyone connected to "an unauthorised tournament cannot take part with our own people". He then went on to say that we "don't want to interfere." No, of course not Mr Shah. But, in the interests of consistency shouldn't we be banishing everyone who partakes in unofficial cricket tournaments? That would rule out commentators Stephen Fleming and Simon Doull (beach cricket) plus all those Black Caps who have played in teams (or competitions) that have been "polluted" with ICL players. It's a nonsensical approach.

Apart from having an ICL bloke having his say about India and Indian cricketers, another crucial issue appears to be the presence of BCCI favourite Ravi Shastri, who does a cracking job in the TV box and doubles as a member of the IPL's governing council alongside heavyweights such as Lalit Modi and Sunil Gavaskar. A Ravi-Macca combination is unpalatable for the BCCI who would probably rather see McMillan in stocks outside the ground.

We shouldn't be at all surprised. There is now a veritable catalogue of intimidatory tactics and unsavoury "anti-ICL" incidents that have had an impact on the New Zealand cricketing milieu:

1. Craig McMillan dares to have a day's work experience in the Hamilton commentary box for Sky TV and is set to be stood down from commentating on the first Test. Why? The BCCI believes McMillan's ICL infection will taint the coverage.

2. Shane Bond is given the "all clear" from NZC to join the Indian Cricket League and then told he couldn't honour his offshore contract. Why? A figurative double-barrelled gun to NZC's head from the BCCI and the ICC.

3. Daryl Tuffey plays for Auckland in a warm-up match against Bangladesh. The BCCI expresses its displeasure. So said Sharad Pawar a year ago: "All the boards had agreed in principle at the last ICC CEO's meeting that any player who is part of an unauthorised tournament will not be encouraged. This is a violation of a gentleman's agreement. Lalit Modi will write to New Zealand Cricket to protest against this move."

4. Nathan Astle, Daryl Tuffey and Craig McMillan are barred from featuring in Victory, a Bollywood film, because of their ICL infections. Why? Astle said: "They have had the hard word put on them by the BCCI to stop us from playing. I understand if they want to take that stance on the cricket field but this goes beyond that, and I think it's quite ridiculous, actually. I mean, this has nothing to do with playing - it's a movie about cricket. I was just supposed to rock up and bowl a few deliveries."

5. Hamish Marshall's presence sees Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Kartik walking around Wellington’s Cuba Mall looking at a bucket fountain when they could have been guest stars in a low-key Masters game between Australia and New Zealand in Wellington. The two Indian players were withdrawn at 8am on the day of the game at the BCCI's behest - not that they were admitting it. The Indian board's gushy man on the ground in New Zealand was dismissive: "This match is very insignificant. I don't have to react to this."

6. India is keen for its 6-pack of Test specialists to swagger into the New Zealand first-class cricket competition, the State Championship, for a bit of a hit. But then the fear and loathing of the ICL sets in. As a result no Indian player can turn out for Auckland or Northern Districts because of the presence of the Tuffey and Hamish Marshall respectively. So the BCCI is fine with its players playing in the same competition when it suits, but not in the same team as the ICL-linked riff-raff. Tuffey was even leant on by NZC, under orders from the BCCI, to stand down for the game but he rightly refused.

This recent meddling with Macca is merely another chapter in the book of the Indian establishment's vendetta against the non-establishment Indian Cricket League. Having the evil letter "C" in their Indian domestic cricket competition acronym is not a reason to treat players as untouchables. How much longer can the obsession with these unimportant trifling "threats" to its near-monopolistic position on the game continue?

The old adage that he who pays the piper calls the tune has never been more apt than in cricket at present – and the piper is playing a sitar. But India must not be granted a free license to meddle unfettered in another country's cricket arrangements. Aside from the shameful need for New Zealand cricket administrators to constantly “walk on eggshells” for fear of upsetting the BCCI, these off-field shenanigans are doing something more heinous. They’re detracting from the deeds of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team’s cricket on the park. When will it end?

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