They Smelt The Turf

With 8,000 members and a say in the BCCI, the cricketers’ association can be the game’s Praetorian Guard

- Qaiser Mohammad Ali

It is a group whose time had come long back, and yet took years to fructify despite a real, felt need from all professional wielders of bats and hurlers of balls. The Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA), with full backing of the Supreme Court, has finally come into being. Around 8,000–possibly more—former first-class and international players, both men and women, along with disabled cricketers, are to become proud members of the ICA and their state chapters. And, for all you know, a stalwart like Kapil Dev, Mohammed Azharuddin or Sachin Tendulkar could become president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in future, taking the ICA route. If that happens, it will herald a new era in Indian cricket.

The development is truly game-changing—a paradigm shift of immense significance. The BCCI never let players raise their voice in its 90-year history, and any attempt was squashed by powerful administrators of the day with an iron boot. The few half-hearted attempts made in 1978, 1989 and 2002 were summarily crushed.