‘One-State, one-vote’ may dilute Ranji standards, opines Gavaskar

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, on Saturday, feared that the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha Committee’s ‘one-State, one-vote’ recommendation may dilute the standards of the Ranji Trophy.

“Not every county plays county cricket in England and not every State plays shield cricket in Australia,” Gavaskar said.

Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar said the sweeping reforms set off by the Supreme Court in the Board of Control for Cricket in India should be made a model for change in every sports federation of the country.

“I think the reforms, while you might not agree with everything, were needed. They were needed not just in Indian cricket but they are needed in all sports federations,” Gavaskar, who came to participate in a discussion in the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here, said. “I just hope there is a final decision taken over the next few days regarding the appointment of the administrators so that we can go ahead and start planning for the IPL,” he added about the present scenario prevailing in the BCCI.

While welcoming the changes forced by the apex court of the country, Gavaskar also supported the functioning of the BCCI saying that it had been following a fair system of governance. “The BCCI is probably the only national sports federation where there was a change in the offices of the president and secretary every three years and five years. There was always a new person coming. Mr. (Sharad) Pawar had three years, Mr. (Jagmohan) Dalmiya had three years. Every one has three years, and then they moved away and the senior vice-presidents took over. So there was this thing happening,” he said. “It is needed in other federations as well. Whatever it is, the Supreme Court’s decision has to be respected and we all have to accept. As I said, the quicker we get ahead, the better it will be for Indian cricket,” the former Indian captain added.

On the issue of one State one vote, which has been opposed by the BCCI, Gavaskar said that is not important how many votes a State can have but the decision should not dilute the standard of first-class cricket. “I actually have no problems with how many votes a State has. My only concern is that it should not automatically mean that the States which are not ready for first-class cricket are given the Ranji Trophy or first-class status,” Gavaskar said. “For example, you talk about Meghalaya and Nagaland, who do not have a cricketing infrastructure. If they are going to be playing Ranji Trophy when they are not ready to play first-class cricket, then I think the standard of cricket will be diluted and that is not going to help the sport in the country,” he clarified.