Indian Cricket Board BCCI Announces Sweeping Changes

[Indyan]

Source : NDTV

• Former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri has been appointed as the Cricket Manager for India s upcoming tour to Bangladesh.
  
• Former Indian cricketers Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh have also been appointed as the bowling and fielding coach respectively for that tour.
  
• Rahul Dravid has been retained as the captain for the tour of Bangladesh, Ireland and England.
  
• Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh will be served notice to speaking to the media, the Board said at a packed press conference in Mumbai. It added that only the captain was allowed to speak to the media and that too not exclusively.
  
• Players have been barred from having exlusive media contracts.
  
• All cricketers will not be be allowed to endorse more than three products and even then players will have to take prior approval from the Board before signing endorsements. Players will also not be allowed to do endorsements two weeks before a tour.
  
• The zonal selection system has been scrapped with immediate effect and the Ranji Trophy Elite group will be reduced to 10 teams from next season. All players will have to play domestic cricket and wil undergo a fitness test before every tour.
  
• The Board added that the frequency of under-19 tours will be increased.
  
• All state association have also been directed to start cricket academies from 2009.

 

[Harrypotter_fan]

Looks good!

 

[Cricketman]

Wheres the motivation to perform at the highest level? My friends bro plays domestic cricket, and he makes 1lakh permatch also!

Everything else looks tip top though!

Also: not more than 2 players can endorse a product: Is this like RBK for all those people?

 

[SaiSrini]

Wheres the motivation to perform at the highest level? My friends bro plays domestic cricket, and he makes 1lakh permatch also!

Everything else looks tip top though!

Also: not more than 2 players can endorse a product: Is this like RBK for all those people?

Now if you dont perform at the highest level, you can get dropped or find yourself in the oblivion. You say that domestic cricket pays equally well. And then you also say that the international cricketers earn way too much money and that it should be curbed and they should be paid according to performance.

Its better to take a middle ground. The BCCI have done all what we expected! They have taken the right track. But the thing to see is, if they travel on the track continuously or do they wither away from it. I hope they travel properly!

 

[sohum]

Looks interesting. I like the fact that players have to play domestic cricket. I'm not sure how the rules regarding endorsements will apply to cricketers who already have plenty of endorsements, as that would seem to be a contract violation one way or another.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Hmm...not bad. Much better than I expected from the BCCI. If the ICL gets underway, and these three coaches retained (Although Srinath and Gavaskar paying occasional visits will be good), this could lead to a new successful era in Indian Cricket...

 

[Skater]

Just what needs to happen to Indian cricket if you ask me.

 

[SaiSrini]

i)Ravi Shastri appointed Cricket Manager for Bangladesh tour

This is a good decision. He is not as big as Gavaskar or Chappell. But he has the respect of the players. Has represented them in the players contract issue. He is outspoken.

ii)Prasad and Robin Singh appointed as bowling and fielding coach

This is awesome! I have always been wanting specialized coaches for the areas of the game. Robin Singh is someone whom I have great respect. A ery good fielder, and a top athlete. Prasad is a trained and qualified coach, and would do a good job too

iii)All cricketers will not be be allowed to endorse more than three products and even then players will have to take prior approval from the Board before signing endorsements. Players will also not be allowed to do endorsements two weeks before a tour.

This is again a very good move. I hear the sponsors getting against this, but the BCCI should not relent. Also some one in this thread says that the player loses endorsements when his form dips. Not necessarily! Once you have become a star like Dhoni, even when your form dips, you're still the nation's hero. There are players who create an image for themselves exclusively through endorsements, and they wont lose endorsements even though their form dips. For eg. Sachin Tendulkar is the sponsor's delight. He rarely loses endorsements even though he has been failing quite often in recent times.

iv) The zonal selection system has been scrapped with immediate effect and the Ranji Trophy Elite group will be reduced to 10 teams from next season. All players will have to play domestic cricket and wil undergo a fitness test before every tour.

Another good move. Other countries have lesser players and have more competition for places. This can be interpreted as a move in that direction.

Overall: The BCCI has acted in a super swift manner. They have heeded to the advice of the former captains, and have made almost the right decisions.

But the question is, will they keep up their promise or will this be the classic case of what our Indian politicians do where they promise but very often fail to fulfill it!

 

[Indyan]

This is again a very good move. I hear the sponsors getting against this, but the BCCI should not relent. Also some one in this thread says that the player loses endorsements when his form dips. Not necessarily! Once you have become a star like Dhoni, even when your form dips, you're still the nation's hero. There are players who create an image for themselves exclusively through endorsements, and they wont lose endorsements even though their form dips. For eg. Sachin Tendulkar is the sponsor's delight. He rarely loses endorsements even though he has been failing quite often in recent times.

Why dont you want the players to earn money? BCCI has put in a rule that prevents them from shooting ads etc. just before (15 days or less) or during a series.
Its the players that are bringing in all the money. The BCCI has no right to restrict them to 3 sponsors. Whats wrong if the players give take rest 1 day in a week and fullfill sponsors requirements?
Dont tell me that is causing the performance dips.

Btw, remember after Sharad Power and Co had come into power they had invited ex-Indian cricketers and sought their opinion? They had given similar suggetions. Nothing was done on it.
BCCI actually sat on those recomendations for 1 and a half year. They are not acting switfly because of public pressure.

 

[SaiSrini]

The empire (BCCI) strikes back - Anand Vasu

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/289339.html

I am tending to agree with Vasu here. This time, the BCCI has really acted tough contrary to the previous times when they werent this assertive. I think an early World Cup exit has made them act this way!

We have always done well in World Cups (even in 99, we entered the Super eights and had some victories). If the BCCI can walk their talk, I think Indian cricket can be very easily resurrected and can in fact attain new heights of glory!

 

[F4rrukh]

Good to see some improvements and that BCCI are actually taking it seriously.

 

[SaiSrini]

As expected, the "endorsements" issue is attracting criticism from former cricketers and business houses.

First people want the endorsements to be curbed for the interest of indian cricket. now they are protesting against it. nonsense! in my opinion, the board has done the right thing.

the money that the player earns from the board is more than enough. plus he can have at least 3 endorsements. whats the big fuss in this? the indian board this time is more powerful than the WICB, so i dont think the indian players can counter the board like what the west indian players are doing regarding their contracts! if the players dont agree, they will be dropped in favor of other players!

 

[Cricketman]

Lol.
Niranjan Shah was interviewed yesterday on Headlines Today. It was hilarious, he was gulping away!
The endorsments deal is crap IMO. The players already have contracts with all these companies, the dictator BCCI can't just come in and tell them to cancel all of that, its unfair to the companies!
If the ICC came to the BCCI and said to them "you can only have 1 company to sponser your team blah blah blah" they had to choose between Sahara and Nike. Thats unfair to the companies, am i right? This happened before the 03 WC, and the BCCI even threatened to pull out because of the sponsorship row! This is utter hypocrisy in my opinion..

 

[icyman]

Niranjan Shah and Pawar are idiots.
The dictionary meaning of an idiot-A person devoid of thinking.

Just two days ago,Shah said that the existing contracts will be honored.In 2003,you had a better person controlling the affairs of the BCCI than compared to today.That person was too powerful for the ICC also.And the ICC knew that they could not afford to loose India in that tournament !

 

[Cricketman]

I want Dalmiya back. He was alot better than Pawar..