INDIANS HAVE a huge appetite for cricketing tales on and off the field. The conflicts and drama from the dressing rooms and the BCCI board rooms have often made headlines. Veteran cricket administrator Ratnakar Shetty was privy to many such moments.
A former chemistry professor, Shetty started his career as a cricket administrator in 1975 when he was appointed staff-in-charge of cricket in Wilson College, Mumbai. During his stint with the BCCI, he held the roles of chief administrative officer and general manager (game development). He was close to BCCI bosses like Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sharad Pawar.
Shetty’s new book, On Board Test, Trial, Triumph: My years in BCCI, offers a selection of anecdotes. The Sourav Ganguly-Greg Chappell spat was one of the most controversial episodes that Shetty had a ringside view of.
Exclusive excerpts from the book:
A few days before the team was to depart for Zimbabwe, I was told by Mr Dalmiya of Chappell’s demand that Ian Frazer, a long-time associate of his, be inducted into the team as the ‘biomechanical expert.’ Mr Gavaskar, who had been on the panel which had interviewed Chappell and the other candidates, was surprised when he got to know this.
The issue of assistants had been discussed during the interview itself and Chappell had stated clearly that he would not require any. Then where did this demand come from?
However, Mr Dalmiya persuaded the office-bearers to appoint Frazer, probably because he did not want to rock the boat at the start of Chappell’s stint. Just before the team flew to Zimbabwe, Frazer turned up at the Board’s office and requested me to change the designation on his blazer from ‘biomechanical expert’ to ‘assistant coach’. I refused.
The problems between Chappell and the senior members of the team began in Zimbabwe itself. While Chappell’s cricketing stature and experience were never in doubt, his man-management skills left a lot to be desired. The differences between the senior players and Ian Frazer only added fuel to the fire. Chappell also committed the cardinal mistake of speaking to select journalists and providing them information pertaining to his fallout with Sourav and his conversations about senior players.
By the time he realized that his ploy of taking a few journalists ‘into confidence’ and feeding them with stories had backfired, it was too late. His ‘friends’ in the media would gleefully pass on the information which they received from him, to others.
Chappell’s email to Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the Board president, in which he castigated Sourav, among other things, hit the headlines after the team’s return from Zimbabwe. The senior players believed that the root cause of the problems in Zimbabwe was Frazer more than Chappell himself.
The Board swung into damage-control mode and summoned the captain and the coach to the Taj, Mumbai. A panel, which comprised the Board president, Mr Dalmiya and Mr Gavaskar, first met Sourav and Chappell separately and then jointly. They were told that they needed to sort their differences out. Not surprisingly, the lobby of the Taj was teeming with representatives of the print and electronic media. After the joint meeting was over, Mr Dalmiya suggested that a media conference be organized. We made arrangements for Mr Mahendra to address the media, but only 20-odd journalists turned up.
The majority, including senior journalists from Kolkata, had congregated in Sourav’s room, where another ‘media conference’ was being held simultaneously! The BCCI chose to back Chappell, and the selectors formally handed over the reins to Rahul Dravid in October 2005. Sourav found himself out of favour and out of the side under the new regime of the BCCI, which took charge in November that year.
The Indian team under Rahul beat Sri Lanka comprehensively in an ODI series and then squared another ODI series against South Africa. The new captain was the toast of the nation, as was the new coach. It appeared that Indian cricket had moved on from Sourav, although he returned to the squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka and the subsequent tour of Pakistan, much to the displeasure of those who wanted him to be banished for good.
Sourav’s right elbow, which he had injured in Zimbabwe, healed before the Test series against Sri Lanka. Dr Anant Joshi was to examine his medical report and intimate the Board accordingly. When the three of us met at the Taj Land’s End in Mumbai, Sourav commented on the irony of the situation, in that the individual whom he had backed as coach was the one targeting him. It was sad to see Sourav, once a popular and successful captain, going through a tough phase.
On Board Test, Trial, Triumph: My years in BCCI
By Ratnakar Shetty
Published by Rupa Publications India
Price Rs595; pages 328