Will Chennai meeting mark a turn in BCCI's autonomy?

A very crucial selection committee meeting is to take place in Chennai on September 2 to name the probables for the ICC knock-out Trophy to be played in Nairobi from October 3 to 15. It goes without saying that all eyes will be on the deliberations at the meeting. With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Sports Minister SS Dhindsa sticking to their respective stands on the players who have been tainted by the match fixing allegations and the raids carried out by the IT department, the meeting has all the ingredients of a pot boiler. A quote by Josiah Quincy says "When you have a number of disagreeable duties to perform, always do the most disagreeable first." The selectors got some breathing space earlier when the government decreed that India could not take part in the Sahara Cup series against Pakistan in Toronto. This time however they have to take tough decisions which perhaps they would have liked to postpone once more.

Dhindsa, talking to reporters at the National Stadium in New Delhi a couple of days ago, stuck to his guns on the tainted players and the coach and asked them to step down on moral grounds. When queried by reporters, Dhindsa said he had nothing new to say since he had stated in public that Kapil Dev, Mohammed Azharuddin and the others whose homes and offices were searched by IT officials last month were morally bound to step down. He said "I have already made my views known in public and I have nothing new to add. I will leave the decision of who to select and who not to pick to the BCCI."

The Chennai meeting thus assumes significance for the Board president AC Muthiah who been authorised to deal with Kapil Dev and has already met the Indian coach. Therefore the time has come for Muthiah to take a decision on the vexed issue - should he be retained or should he be shown the door. Whatever the final decision, the same yardstick will also have to be applied to players like Mohd. Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Nikhil Chopra whose premises have been raided and against whom there are allegations. Will Chennai, which has always been a happy hunting ground for the two former Indian captains, be different this time around?

With the BCCI and especially Muthiah maintaining that the players and coach are innocent until proven guilty, time is running short. The board and the government are obviously on a collision course on this issue. Board officials have always maintained that they do not interfere with the selection. But then these are unusual circumstances. What advice, if any, will Muthiah give Borde and his co-selectors is a moot point. Muthiah has also taken a stand that the selection would be based on merit. One supposes this yardstick applies to tainted players too. Azharuddin top scoring and Jadeja doing rather well in the recent Asia XI vs World XI game at the Oval last month makes the scenario even more intriguing.

Finally, September 2 could well go down in Indian cricket history as a very important date - if the players against whom a probe has been ordered are dropped. If this happens, the BCCI will lose some of its sheen and the clearly the Government would have gained some control over it, for all the brave talk of autonomy uttered repeatedly by board secretary Jaywant Lele. If on the other hand, the tainted players are among those picked, what will the government's reaction be? Will the BCCI allow the Government to dictate terms? Or will it prove that it is still an autonomous body? As Ben Sobel said "start writing a new chapter, for if you live by the book you'll never make history." Come Saturday, the BCCI may have no choice but to live by the quote.