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An agenda for The Boss

Harsha Bhogle

So an Indian is head of the International Cricket Council.

A fierce personal ambition has been fulfilled after a battle that saw more will-power on display, and a greater killer instinct, than Indian cricket has ever been known to possess.

Jagmohan Dalmiya wanted to be President of the ICC, and in going about it he ruffled a few staid old feathers and he trampled on a few sensitive toes - but his objective was to get there, and he did just that.

It was the equivalent in a one-day match of chasing a target of 300 with the best of the established lot of bowlers standing in the way. There were times when the asking rate got too steep, and there were other obstacles which I personally believed could be insurmountable. But then, I had been seeing a little too much of Indian cricket and made the critical error of believing that there would be a strong correlation in attitudes.

To my mind, this is the single biggest anamoly in Indian cricket. The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (Dalmiya has since resigned the post) displays the kind of toughness and determination in attaining a goal that the team which represents his organisation has rarely shown.

Maybe personal goals are more easily achieved than team goals, but surely eleven players gunning intensely for personal goals would end up becoming a very good side? That may not be strictly true in football or hockey but, rather peculiarly for a team sport, that often ends up happening in cricket.

It is always a good idea to have influential administrators in the governing body of a sport. Indian hockey, a failure of administration more than that of its players, discovered that when year after after year new rules were introduced that were aimed at strangling the skilful Asian pattern.

Indian cricket, with hardly a voice on the ICC (not surprising, given that it was originally called the Imperial Cricket Conference) bore strangely long holidays from international cricket with a rather painful silence. When India toured England in 1974, they accepted a rule that stated there could not be more than five fielders on the leg side. And for years, the Indian Board allowed England, or the MCC as it was then called, the freedom to send teams that weren't at full strength.

Now an Indian stands there, at the head of a body that in the past has been less than kind to India. Dalmiya is not yet fully welcome, but in that feeling alone lies a substantial triumph. There has been a display of vigour and boldness, even if not everyone is convinced that the means adopted were fully fair. Not knowing the inside story on that, it wouldn't be appropriate to comment on it - but it would be pretty fair to say that Asian enterprise has often been painted in the West, and often painted wrongly, with a coat of suspicion. If an Indian or a Pakistani succeeds, the first reaction is that there was deceit or thuggery involved. It is the result of years of apprehension and the inability (or is it unwillingness) to see another side to a pretty rich civilisation.

I would be delighted if, having succeeded, Dalmiya approaches his job with an absolutely clear mind. And takes some steps to clear this veil of suspicion that still shrouds what is a remarkable achievement.

For a start, India desperately needs to present a better image of its cricket and, as a result of certain recent actions, of its cricketers. Our administrators need, and need very urgently, to present a more professional look. There is, at the moment, a hint of arrogance to their functioning; a certain lack of consideration for etiquette and hospitality. I can assure you, having made several overseas cricket tours, that 'traditional Indian hospitality' is a huge myth; certainly in Indian cricket. Our grounds are in very poor shape, and there is too much chaos before a big game. And, most important, no action is seen to be taken against staging associations that have consistently been poor - Cuttack is a very good example.

As things stand, there are only two grounds in the country that are truly world class in the manner in which they approach major events. The Eden Gardens at Calcutta, which I believe presents cricket as a spectacle like no other ground in the world can, and Mohali. Not surprisingly, both centres are driven by individuals who love the game deeply and who have tremendous organisational skills. While it is always a privilege to cover a game at the Eden Gardens, the fact that Mohali can be mentioned in the same breath, in spite of not having either a good airport or a single outstanding hotel, is a stunning achievement for Inderjit Singh Bindra.

But two out of two dozen? Not a good percentage, I'm afraid.

Dalmiya also needs to do something very quickly about this whole problem of betting and match fixing. It is all very well to argue that we will take action when there is a specific instance. But good administration, as Dalmiya knows - and displays when he is organising matches in Calcutta - is all about being proactive, not reactive; it is about anticipating things rather than waiting for them to happen. It is also about being publicly seen to be doing something.

Today, the entire nation is convinced that there is something dirty in the manner in which one-day matches are won and lost. There is no proof - but in the face of such strong feelings, proof is not always seen to be necessary. We are a country whose stock-markets run on rumours, remember? Indian cricket today stands tainted in the eyes of the world and of its countrymen and it needs strong positive reassuring action. It needs to convince the world - and, more than anything else, it needs to convince the members of its national side - that there is nothing wrong.

If there is nothing wrong, that is. Otherwise we will reach a situation where teammates don't trust each other - and that is a disease that doesn't cure either quickly or well.

We are a nation that moves on emotion; even melodrama. What we need from the men who run Indian cricket is action that appeals to the heart and, in doing so, convinces the mind.

I think Dalmiya can do that.

And if he can do all this and more, he will make it easier for another Indian, maybe many years from now, to rise to the top of world cricket.