The Indian Cricket League is something new for the fans. For the media it is something to debate or rather 'feast' on for a while, through intense scrutiny. They are indeed having a lot of fun by comparing ICL to Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. But for the BCCI, this new venture undertaken by Subhash Chandra of the Essel Group is turning out to be a real nightmare, and not without reason.

A large number of extremely talented players from outside India have joined ICL. South Africa's Andrew Hall and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq, who have lost faith in their national cricket boards, are examples. Then come the all-time-greats like Brian Lara and Glenn McGrath, along with the involvement of Kapil Dev. And as the ICL is gathers strength so the problems grow for the BCCI.

One of the key issues over the past week has been where the ICL games will take place. India's railway minster Laloo Prasad has offered the railway grounds to ICL if they are denied access to the national stadiums by the BCCI.

'In short, why is the the 78-year-old governing body of Indian cricket afraid of a rebel league still under construction?'


The BCCI have tried their level best to prevent a further leakage of young talent to  ICL by using its age-old tactic of creating an atmosphere of insecurity among the players with threats of lifetime bans for those joining up. But the the present generation of players is too hard a nut to crack, as the board's threats have only made them determined to join ICL. Little did the BCCI realise that such 'negative re-inforcement' in psychological parlance would not provide a long-lasting solution to the problem.

Another tactical blunder was the decision to sack Kapil Dev as the chairman of National Cricket Academy, for his involvement with the ICL. Of course, all that served to do was to provide ICL with the full-time services of India's greatest all-rounder. And by sacking this legend, the BCCI has drawn flak from all corners of the country, including a raft of senior players like Sandip Patil, Madan Lal and Kiran More

"The decision to remove a player like Kapil was not proper on the [BCCI] part. What is their standing to take such an action?" Patil asked. And More was forthright: "The BCCI has always humiliated senior players and this shows that nothing has changed," he said in a media interview.

So why are the BCCI so negative towards ICL? The board is revealing its own selfish attitude, one that stinks badly and brings nothing but damage. Why can't they see the positives emanating from ICL? The players will get exposure and opportunities to play with and against the likes of Lara and learn from them. The BCCI will have more opportunity to see emerging players in different conditions and situations. In short, why is the the 78-year-old governing body of Indian cricket afraid of a rebel league still under construction?

That's the BCCI for you, not bothered about the development of players and only interested in maintaining their position as the highest governing body of cricket in the country.

So why are the BCCI so concerned about ICL? Post a comment below or submit an article to Sportingo.