Umrigar declines Dalmiya's request; stands firm on quitting

Prem Panicker

Polly Umrigar is too nice and diplomatic a person to come right out and call someone a liar - but he came within a toucher of it on Saturday while replying to the statements of BCCI secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya.

A day earlier, Dalmiya had expressed his surprise over Polly Umrigar's decision to resign his post of executive secretary of the BCCI.

While handing in his papers, Umrigar had alleged that his suggestions were regularly overlooked, he was systematically humiliated (specifying the instance when he was told, by a BCCI functionary, to shut up as he was 'merely a paid employee') and so on. "I have no desire to continue in a post where I am not wanted," Umrigar had said in his letter of resignation.

Elaborating, Umrigar said that among other suggestions, he had mooted that the board should curtail the number of one day internationals being played by India, and also visits to non-Test playing nations. "The Indian players are in danger of burning out, given the amount of cricket they are being asked to play. Srinath is a prime example - he has a shoulder problem and should be resting, but instead he is plunged from one gruelling tour into another one. At this rate, we may not have his services for much longer," Umrigar elaborated.

Dalmiya, who was out of town when the imbroglio blew up, returned on Friday and came up with a statement that can only be interpreted as a way of putting a nice face on an ugly incident. "Umrigar has not given any reason for his resignation. I have requested that he reconsider, and continue in the post. At the least, I have requested that he give the board six months to look out for a successor to take over his post," Dalmiya said. "I am hopeful that this great cricketer would either resume his charge, or give us time to select a successor," Dalmiya said.

At the same time, BCCI president Raj Singh Dungarpur also indicated that efforts were being made to get Umrigar to rethink his decision. "Polly Umrigar is a personal friend of mine," Dungarpur said on Friday. "Some BCCI members are trying to persuade him to change his mind. We have received the resignation letter, but haven't taken any steps yet, so I wouldn't want to elaborate on the issue at this stage."

That the BCCI was making a bid to get Umrigar to withdraw his resignation is a fact. That the BCCI's attempt was not out of concern for the wounded feelings of a former Test player, but in order to paper over the cracks in the facade, to present a 'It was merely a temporary misunderstanding, it's all over now, we are all friends and working together for the good of Indian cricket' type facade, is equally obvious.

In order to further this impression, however, Dalmiya went that shade too far in his statement. Emphasising that he had "absolutely no idea" about Umrigar's grievances, the BCCI secretary said, "In fact, we met on February 19 and 20 in Bombay for the Board meetings, and he did not give me any indication about his grievances and his intention to resign. In fact, he was extremely cooperative and effectively contributed during the meetings."

Pouring oil on obviously troubled waters, Dalmiya added, "I have a lot of respect for him, not only because of his spelnded contributions to Indian cricket and his knowledge of the game, but also because of his extremely helpful nature. He has always been a source of inspiration to me personally, and guided me tirelessly on various cricketing matters."

However, when asked about the real casus belli, as the legal eagles have it, Dalmiya said that he was totally unaware of Umrigar's grievances. "Mr Umrigar might have discussed some issues, and made suggestions, informally with other board members, but I personally have never received any of these proposals from him."

And that statement has apparently proved the final straw - for a day later, on Saturday March 1, Umrigar in turn came up with a terse statement of his own.

"I have received the BCCI's request that I continue in my post, at least for six months or till such time as my successor is picked, and I must regretfully decline. I have relinquished the post of executive secretary as of today," the former India Test star said.

Umrigar declined to be interviewed at length, arguing that nothing would be served by washing personal dirty linen in public. However, when Dalmiya's statment that he had never officially made any suggestions regarding curtailing the number of ODIs and tours of the Indian cricket team was concerned, Umrigar was obviously miffed.

Too polite, too diplomatic to call the BCCI secretary a liar in so many words, Umrigar contented himself with saying: "My suggestions were not made orally, but were put on paper and tabled before the board. And I have copies of all these documents, for the perusal of any responsible person."

Stripped of hyperbole, that statement is a flat contradiction of Dalmiya's statement. Basically, what Umrigar is saying here is - yes, I made those suggestions officially, yes the BCCI secretary has seen them.

That he will never return to the BCCI fold is something Umrigar is very firm about - and that, in itself, is a tragedy as he was one of the few people who consistently put the good of Indian cricket first, and petty politics last, on his personal agenda.

But the way his career as a cricket administrator has ended is, frankly, more tragic. Because it indicates that the BCCI mandarins, Dungarpur and Dalmiya, have no intention of learning from their mistakes.

The first mistake was to condone the ill-treatment of a Test cricketer by BCCI functionaries. Is "condone" too harsh? Perhaps they were merely unaware? It is an argument, sure - but sorry, it doesn't wash. For the simple reason that if the president and secretary of the BCCI are unaware of the functioning of their minions, then something is very definitely wrong in the state of Denmark. And then there's this - Umrigar specifically mentioned the incident wherein, when he argued strenuously for a more humane cricketing schedule, he was told by a functionary to "shut up" as he was merely a "paid employee". A week after Umrigar made that charge, neither Dalmiya nor Dungarpur have found it necessary to express one single word of regret that a great player, well into his seventies and deserving, at the least, of more courtesy, was treated so shabbily. So yes, "condone" is the right word - and if I knew a stronger, I would have used it.

The attitude of the mid- and lower-level BCCI functionary has, for a long time now, been one of appalling arrogance. It is almost as if they - comprising, for the most part, people who have never experienced, even for a day, the heat and dust of cricketing action - look on the BCCI, and Indian cricket, as some sort of personal fiefdom. And on the cricketers, past and present, as people who are there merely on their sufferance. Symptomatic of this was an incident that occured during the Wills World Cup - a BCCI official went up to Manoj Prabhakar before a key game and, in public, told him that he was being selected on condition that he would give his 100 per cent to the side.

Said official was not a selector, merely a clerical-type functionary and very low indeed in the BCCI pecking order. And yet he felt himself empowered to talk to a cricketer - one, moreover, whose commitment to the side has never been questioned, whatever else his other faults - in that fashion, simply because that is how the BCCI mindset works. It is the Board first, last and always - and the cricketers be damned. The snubbing of Umrigar is of a piece with that incident, and symptomatic of the larger malaise.

If this is one tragic aspect of the Umrigar imbroglio, there is a hidden, but much larger, one. Polly 'Kaka' Umrigar is one of the few Indian cricketers held in universal esteem by the fraternity, one of the few former stars who commands respect and affection not only from his peers, but even from players of succeeding eras.

Given the downright deplorable way in which he has been treated, is it reasonable to expect that any single former Indian cricketer who values his self respect will come forward to accept a BCCI post and contribute to the development of the game in this country?

I suspect not. And therein lies the real tragedy - finally, the lunatics have taken complete charge of the asylum.