During a visit to the TOI Mumbai office on the eve of India’s 78th Independence Day, Shah announced that the new state of the art NCA will soon come up on the outskirts of Bengaluru in September.
“We are going to make it available for Olympic sportspersons too like Neeraj Chopra,” he revealed. During a 15-minute presentation, followed by a 23-minute chat, he also announced plans for a cricket stadium in Varanasi and an NCA in six North-East states and the seventh one in Jammu.
Excerpts from the interaction:
Everybody wants to know about the Champions Trophy and will India travel to Pakistan? What is BCCI’s stand?
No stand as of now. We will cross the bridge when it comes.
Champions Trophy though comes later, but the Bangladesh series is upon us (Sept 19, Chennai). With the turmoil that the nation is currently experiencing, are there concerns?
None as of now. A new government has just been formed over there. They will surely reach out to us. If they do not, I will surely reach out to them. For us, Bangladesh series is very important. We will try our best to host it.
Bangladesh are also the hosts of the Women’s T20 WC scheduled in Oct. With the security concerns there, are there any obligations for India to host it, considering that India is a neighbouring country?
They had asked the BCCI if they can host the event, but I flatly refused. We would be still in the monsoon season and next year, we are going to host the ODI Women’s World Cup. I do not want to give the impression that I want to host consecutive World Cups.
The Australia Test series is the big-ticket event for Team India and the fans. How are India going to prepare for it?
Our team is already well prepared. We have rested Jasprit Bumrah for a while now. Mohammad Shami is expected to be fit too. This is an experienced Indian side now. Seniors like Rohit and Kohli are fit.
What is the fitness status of Shami and Mayank Yadav?
Your question about Shami is right, but I cannot give you any answer on Mayank Yadav as there is no guarantee whether he will be in the team or no. But he is potentially a good fast bowler, and we are looking after him. He is currently in the NCA. Shami will be there because he is experienced, and we need him in Australia.
There was so much talk about the impact player rule in IPL. Some franchises did not like it. The Indian captain also voiced his displeasure as he felt it was stopping the development of allrounders?
Your take. We had a long chat with the franchise owners in the recent meeting we had. The impact player rule has its pros and cons. The negative is that it makes the allrounder’s role redundant. The positive is it creates a spot for an Indian player to showcase his talent. We should also think about the broadcaster, who is paying a lot of money. But as an administrator for me, the game is bigger. We will decide in a few days.
There is a lot of talk surrounding player retentions and the need for mega auctions.
We have heard everyone out. Now, the decision rests on us. We must take the majority view on it. But even the minority view is important. The teams that are settled do not want a mega auction. Those franchises that have an unsettled team, want a mega auction. As a cricket fan, I feel consistency is important, but shuffling things up makes it interesting and helps in growing the game.
Can you shed more light on the new NCA? 24 years after the idea of having an NCA was first formulated, finally Indian cricket now has its own high-performance centre?
When I took over as BCCI secretary in Sept 2019, immediately within three to four months, there was the Covid-19 pandemic. All our focus was on how to host the IPL and some domestic cricket. For two years, BCCI office was almost shut. Once we got the second term, we decided that we must take this forward. This was about developing facilities in North-East. And the NCA, I had laid the foundation stone in 2022 in Bengaluru. In 2008, we had procured land, but no work was done. I don’t know why my predecessors didn’t do anything.
Tell us about facilities being developed in the North-East…
They have been given full membership of the Board. They are an integral part of the country and getting opportunities is their right, and giving it is the Board’s duty. Creating facilities in the North-East was in my mind for a long time. The moment the bonding between the local associations there and BCCI improved, we started work. They are also more than happy. Earlier, they would get Rs 5 crore to run cricket, today they get Rs 20 crore to host matches.
Let’s talk about the women’s game. We have seen two editions of the Women’s Premier League now. Is there scope to increase the number of teams from five?
When we started the WPL, someone told me that we don’t have the bench strength and asked how the league will succeed. But the moment we got five teams, they managed to find good combinations. The moment we are confident that more teams should be added to the league, we will do so. As of now even the window allows for a five-team tournament and a women’s FTP is in place.
Can we expect a Test Championship for women too?
It’s possible only when all teams begin playing Test cricket. A WTC for women will not be possible if they play a one-off Test or a two-Test series. But yes, we will try it in the future. As of now we have India, England, Australia, and South Africa playing Tests. New Zealand women have recently begun playing Tests. We can move forward once teams like West Indies and Zimbabwe begin playing Tests.
Recently, West Indies Cricket Board CEO Johnny Grave suggested that teams that are financially weaker should get touring fees to play Test cricket. Your views.
100%, there should be touring fees. I am a member of the F&CA (ICC Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee) and have suggested that there should be a dedicated fund for Tests, whether five million, 10 million or higher. It is expensive to host teams for five-day matches, so we are preparing for it. If the board agrees, we are ready to do that.
Can we see pink-ball Tests in the forthcoming season. India last hosted one in March 2022.
No, there are no provisions. Pink-ball Tests get over within two days in India. As a result, spectators lose money, broadcasters lose money. We need to look at sentiments also. As a fan, you go to a cricket match and buy a ticket for five days, but the game gets over within two-three days. There is no refund. So, I am slightly emotional in this case.
But we have seen two-day Tests with the red ball too.
That’s not happing today. If the opposing team plays badly, what can I do? If our boys are playing well, I can’t tell them to let the game last longer.
Do you think there are double standards when it comes to views on pitches when India win?
There are double standards in only one way. When India plays well the pitches are bad but when India plays badly, the pitches are good.
Has India’s bowling coach been appointed?
The bowling coach has been appointed. We have declared Morne Morkel as the bowling coach. He will be joining on 1st September.
The last two WTC finals have seen India’s preparations a bit compromised because the team lands barely a week after the IPL ends and doesn’t get time to acclimatise. Would you consider shortening the IPL if India qualify this year?
The team didn’t reach late for previous WTC finals. We had no choice. From now on, we will be having a 15-day gap between the end of IPL and the WTC final. But we should also appreciate the fact that we have qualified for the final twice.
How will you reintegrate Ishan Kishan?
He will have to follow the rules. He will have to play domestic cricket.
Why did you feel the need to ask international stars to play in domestic cricket?
We have been little strict. When Ravindra Jadeja had got injured, I was the one who called him and asked him to play a domestic game. It’s certain now, whoever gets injured and goes out, can only come into the Indian team after proving his fitness in domestic cricket. But it doesn’t make sense to add to Virat and Rohit’s load by asking them to play domestic cricket. They run the risk of getting injured. You also need to look at England and Australia. None of their top players play domestic cricket. We must treat our players respectfully and not treat them like servants. If you look Duleep Trophy squad, apart from Rohit and Virat rest are going to play. It’s because of the harsh steps I have taken, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan are playing Duleep Trophy.
Is it ok to expect one coach to be with the team for every series?
India plays non-stop cricket. We have good bench strength of coaches. When Rahul bhai was the coach and he wanted to rest, VVS Laxman would go as the coach. India is the only team that travels everywhere. The benefit we get from that is that our relations with other boards gets stronger and the economy of the other country improves because of India. That’s why we get 40 % share (in revenues from the ICC) but in turn, the other countries, too earn.
Has BCCI thought of having different coaches for different formats like England and Pakistan?
It depends on the coach we have picked. Gautam Gambhir was interested in all three formats, then who I am to tell him that I am going to pick you only for this format. If you look at the makeup of the Test, T20 and ODI sides, 70 % of the team is more less the same. Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Jadeja… pre T20 WC, we had Rohit and Virat. How will the players bond with different coaches?
Teams have issues with 10am starts in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, purely because the ball moves around early in the morning, which makes it tough for batters to score quickly and make a case for IPL selection.
The scheduling is difficult because we’ve to organize a number of matches. What we kept in mind is that whether it’s a weak or strong team, all will get morning and evening matches and similar playing conditions in the tournament. However, what happened in the last season due to (bad) weather (many matches were severely curtailed due to bad weather), the game suffered, we have kept that factor in mind. We will schedule Ranji Trophy matches in the North Zone after the winter, and in the East and West Zone, we will schedule the matches before winter.
Is VVS Laxman quitting his post as NCA chairman?
His contract ends in Sept. But he will continue.
The merger of Viacom and Disney does prompt fears of all the telecast rights being hogged by one organisation.
No views. Just see the bilateral rights and how much they went for. Sony gave a tough fight to Reliance. We were the only board that got incremental value for bilaterals compared to last time. Instead of 6000 crores, we generated 6700 crores. We will always have competition for cricket rights here.
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