BCCI's Officials Worship Virat Kohli Even More Than The Indian Cabinet Worships Narendra Modi: Ramachandra Guha
In yet another scathing attack towards the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Ramachandra Guha, the former member of Committee of Administrators and eminent historian, has taken a sly dig at the official, accusing them of bowing down to Virat Kohli’s demands.
Guha had resigned from the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators in June last year after citing several reasons which made him unhappy including the rift between captain Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble. Guha had also slammed the “superstar” culture in Indian cricket and had targeted cricketers MS Dhoni, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, accusing them of raising conflict of interest.
In July this year, Guha had also slammed the BCCI for its ‘cavalier’ treatment of Indian greats Rahul Dravid and Zaheer Khan.
Dravid and Zaheer were roped in as batting and bowling consultants along with head coach Ravi Shastri, but even now neither of the two have served the team.
And the famous historian has now once again taken a shot at the Indian cricket board. In his column “Politics and Play” for The Telegraph newspaper, Guha insisted how Kohli has a big say in the BCCI’s matter and how the India batting star controls Indian cricket. He went on to say that the BCCI officials “worshipped” the Delhi star more than central government’s cabinet worshipping Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I was witness to the reach and range of Kohli’s dominating self in my four months in the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The BCCI’s officials worshipped him even more than the Indian cabinet worships Narendra Modi. They deferred to him absolutely, even in matters that were not within the Indian captain’s ken,” Guha wrote.
“When the Committee of Administrators had to discuss the Future Tours Programme, the BCCI’s legal counsel said that Virat’s consent must be taken. When the management of the National Cricket Academy came before us, the BCCI’s CEO suggested that Virat must have the first and last word on how it was run. (The BCCI men always used the captain’s first name in referring to him, perhaps to indicate intimacy; however, in concrete behavioural terms, the proximity was more akin to that between servant and master.),” he added.
At the same time, Guha further also heaped praise on Kohli and his charisma.
“In any field in India – be it politics or business or academia or sport -when strength of character is combined with solidity of achievement, it leads to an individual’s dominance over the institution. And the fact is that, on and off the field, Virat Kohli is truly impressive,” he wrote.
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