Overreaction Monday ft. BCCI-ICC Tax fight, Anirudh Chaudhry backing MS Dhoni and Chawla claims
BCCI-ICC Tax fight, Anirudh Chaudhry backing MS Dhoni and Chawla claims
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Cricket is ready to roll this time once again, after weeks of footballing dominance in this column because hey, when it comes to overreaction, cricket, at times, gets really weird in its own way. In this edition of Overreaction Monday, we take a look at 'things' and how they simply got polarised.
ICC threatens to take away 2021 T20 World Cup from India
Last week, the ICC Business Corporation Executive Jonathan Hall sent an official mail, on behalf of the ICC, that it reserves the right to take away the 2021 men's T20 World Cup from India after the BCCI failed to secure a tax exemption for the tournament from the Indian government.
SC Take: We are in between a once-in-a-generation pandemic that has not only forced all of us to stay indoors but it has also made sure that all the governments around the world have been tied up in the battle against novel coronavirus. So much so that all the activities, including the economic ones, have come to a tragic halt. When the ICC itself plans to reschedule the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia to another couple of years from now, it is funny how they are demanding to get the tax exemption confirmation from the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Indian Government.
As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Home Affairs plays the most important role in the containment of the virus, alongside the Ministry of Health and Public Welfare, by adhering to the Disaster Management Act. They have a tight errand to do while also ensuring that economic stability is brought back to normal. Citing force majeure is not the most prudent, but actually the only way available for the time being. ICC needs to realise that lives are more important than saving a few crores through tax exemptions.
Anirudh Chaudhry backing MS Dhoni to return for his cricketing mind
Former BCCI Treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry has stated that if it was up to him, he would still have MS Dhoni in the playing XI for the national team because he is the best wicketkeeper in India and one of the finest minds in the game.
SC Take: Forget MS Dhoni was on a nine-month-long sabbatical before the IPL was postponed, forget MS Dhoni was going through a bad phase even before that, but Chaudhry wants him back in the squad for his cricketing acumen. If that is the case, why not have Tendulkar back in the squad too because hey, he still understands the sport better and can definitely score more than Rishabh Pant - that is for sure. Surely MS helped the spinners by hand-holding them from behind the stumps, but was he able to stop the selection rut going into the 2019 World Cup. It leaves a lot of subjectivity out of the window and that makes it an overreaction in the truest sense.
For the simple fact that India looks to build a squad for the upcoming World Cup and still have failed in that pursuit demands a more open stance on the topic, with the backing to the youngsters becoming a paramount object. India have fiddled way too much as far as the wicket-keeping slot is concerned and have recently zeroed in on KL Rahul. That might not be the right decision but that is a progressive one, surely. Bringing MS Dhoni back to the system again would mean one thing - some more disaster.
ECB planning Covid-19 substitutes as plans for cricket’s resumption
As England and Wales Cricket Board prepare themselves for the resumption of international cricket in a "bio-secure" environment, ECB's director of special operations Steve Elworthy is hoping that the ICC will alter playing regulations to allow Covid-19 substitutions.
SC Take: Not only is this an over-reaction but also one that can almost put the cricketers in danger. Even if the ECB manages to create a bio-secure bubble around the venue, that will automatically weaken once people come in and out of the stadium, with the bubble gradually becoming non-existent in three days. But that is a matter of fact and one could do so much, asking for Covid-19 substitutes makes a little sense and one that puts many in a difficult situation.
Consider this. As per the ECB planning, if one player tests positive, the ICC will allow a substitute for the game to go on as usual, but what is being discounted here is the fact that many others might catch the virus already from the contact they will have that one particular person. Carrying on with the game on the face of a fatal disease would sound regressive for the sport. That the station is in the UK makes things even worse.
Sanjeev Chawla claiming every game was fixed
The prime bookie for the 2000 match-fixing scandal, Sanjeev Chawla, claimed that every single cricket match played professionally is fixed and pointed to the involvement of “a very big syndicate/underworld mafia” that influences all cricket games that, according to him, were like “movies which are already being directed by someone”.
SC Take: Surely, there was a huge underworld involved in fixing games in the 90s and there had been many cases around the world, especially in Pakistan, but the fact that Chawla claimed “every” game was fixed made it an overstatement. The game is corrupted for many tainted and shameless characters but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it had played host to many proud and equally respected cricketers in its rich history.
Chawla’s statement didn't just defy that phenomenon, but it also created a ruckus of sorts in the sense of lacking sensitivity and truth. Well, Chawla, an experienced bookie by his own admission, must know the difference between spot-fixing and match-fixing and alleging that every game is fixed is just senseless, for sure.
