It’s good to see the BCCI making lots of money by way of TV, team sponsorship, clothing sponsorship and other rights and that it has started giving most of it to those who have made the game what it is and that’s the players. So it was great to hear about the decision to increase by 150 percent the pension that BCCI will now be giving to former players who retired before December 1975. Why 1975 is the cutoff date has not been properly explained, but it seems that the BCCI believes that with the advent of World Series Cricket by Kerry Packer there was more money given to the players. But of course WSC happened only in 1977-78 and India’s TV channels mushroomed in 1993. So the big money came into Indian cricket only after 1994 and the players started to get even more, thanks to Mark Mascarenhas, who took a calculated gamble by signing Sachin Tendulkar giving him a minimum guarantee and that in turn helped other players whose value also increased manifold after that deal with the little champion by Mark Mascarenhas’ WorldTel. What is gratifying is to see that BCCI is giving the pension even to the widows of deceased players and that is sure to get them blessings from everybody. If the BCCI can be persuaded to extend the date to Dec. 31, 1978, then there may well be some cricketers who were not regular but occasional players between 1975 and 1978, who stayed on and retired after 1975, who might also benefit. Surely the BCCI can find out how many more players will thus have to be given the increased pension and it maybe less than half a dozen and it’s something that the BCCI can easily afford.
What the BCCI can also do is to ensure that when it does the merchandising of the replica clothing of the Indian team, especially the colored gear, it can do so without putting the BCCI logo. That logo should only be worn by those who have played for India and not be available to the ‘aam janata’. Whether other boards do so or not is not the issue for as BCCI has shown in recent years it is an organization that will not kowtow to anybody and by ensuring the integrity of the BCCI logo it will enhance the value of it. It was great to see the joyous photograph of the Indian players as they celebrated their one-day series win over Pakistan but the one thing that grated was to see the support staff wearing the blue India cap in that photograph. They haven’t played for India and so they simply cannot wear the cap. Greg Chappell knows the importance of the country’s cap and so you never see him wearing the India cap or wearing the India shirt or the India sweater. He is invariably in the training kit that the team has been supplied and cannot be faulted at all. He has shown respect to the India cap and not worn it even though the kit suppliers who have no idea of the importance of such things have given these colors to everybody including the support staff. The BCCI also can’t be faulted, for after doing the mega bucks deal they have left it to the suppliers and sponsors to sort out the kit.
When India beat Australia at Adelaide, we saw the moving sight of Rahul Dravid joyously kissing the crest on his cap as he hit the winning run. Why did he do that? It was because he was so proud of wearing that cap and his first reaction on hitting the winning runs was to kiss the cap, which he so proudly wears. It’s the cap and the colors that all young budding cricketers aspire for and that’s why it can’t be available off the shelf for a few hundred rupees. Yes, there have been lots of counterfeit caps made in the gray market and that’s something that’s hard to stop but it’s here that BCCI must show the will and ensure that counterfeiters don’t put their logo on it.
I recently met a young fan and he came to see me wearing the India one-day replica shirt but what was a big relief was to see that the shirt was an exact copy of the India one-day shirt but with out the BCCI crest and that’s the way to go for BCCI. As written earlier, the Kangaroo and Emu that Australian players get is not on any of the replica clothing that cricket Australia has. The clothing available to Australian fans and supporters is exactly the same but instead of the Kangaroo and Emu, there’s the Cricket Australia logo. Have you ever seen John Buchanan or any of the Australian teams support staff wearing the Baggy Green cap? No way will they do so for the team members will be the first to take it off the support staff if they wore what only those who have been selected to play for Australia wore. That’s why it amazes that someone, who is so proud of the India cap as Dravid hasn’t told the support staff that they simply cannot wear the India cap even if the ignorant sponsors’ suppliers have given it to them. Why only Dravid but Tendulkar, Kumble, Harbhajan, who so proudly wear the India cap should also tell the support staff not to wear the India colors. Perhaps Greg Chappell, who knows the importance of the national colors, can tell his friend/business partner not to wear the India colors but to stick to the training gear that’s given to the team and make no mistake there’s plenty of gear given to the squad. The friend/business partner has been most conspicuous with the India cap, shirt and sweater on the Pakistan tour while the others aren’t seen as they are probably working inside the dressing room. Hopefully also the skipper himself will urge the support staff to respect the sentiments of old timers like me who cherish the India colors and see that only the players selected wear it. Just to take the importance of the India cap a bit further, I know I didn’t wear the cap till I played my first Test though I had got it as a member of the touring squad.
The young fast bowler Sreesanth has said how privileged he was to receive his India cap from Sachin Tendulkar and that’s a great sentiment to hear for it shows that even the modern generation respects the cap and craves it and that’s why one hopes, as do all former India players, I am sure that BCCI as also senior members of the team and the coach will instruct that support staff can only wear the training gear but not the official India colors.
It’s just a simple thing but sends the right signals, so guys do it for old fogies like me please.
