Leading Indian politician on different wicket

There is something in sports - call it power or glamour or what you will - that attracts leading political figures to it. Not as players, of course, but as administrators. Being the president or the secretary of an important national sports body, it is felt, stabilizes their political base and gives them an opportunity to be dynamic and result oriented. And cricket being the No 1 sport in India, many political luminaries are drawn by the undoubted glamour associated with it.

In the 80s, top politicians like SK Wankhede and NKP Salve successively held the post of president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. In the 90s, Madhavrao Scindia, one of the leading Congress politicians was the BCCI president. But then it is sometimes necessary to have a strong base if one wants to aim for the plum post in cricket administration in the country. And so earlier this year, we had a suave politician like Sharad Pawar throwing his hat in the ring and succeeding in becoming the president of the Mumbai Cricket Association. It must not be forgotten that he defeated a former Indian captain who later became a well known figure in cricket administration Ajit Wadekar in a straight contest. Incidentally, Indian Law Minister Arun Jaitly is the president of the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA).

Even against this background, it was rather surprising to hear a couple of weeks ago that Laloo Prasad Yadav was going to contest for the post of president of the Bihar Cricket Association. Hailing from a farming background, Yadav, Bihar's leading political figure and a former Chief Minister of the backward state in eastern India, was never known to be a supporter of an elitist game like cricket. One would have associated him with traditional Indian sports like kabaddi, kho kho or even "gilli dhanda." Not many outside Bihar took him seriously at first. But when he was declared elected unopposed, followers of the game in the country, players and other administrators knew that they had to take Yadav seriously. And after being formally elected to the post on Sunday, Yadav wasted no time in making the headlines by vowing to organise a limited overs day-night cricket match between India and Pakistan in Patna, the capital of the state.

Given the recent background of events and the current scenario, an announcement of this sort was bound to make waves. The Indian government has repeatedly refused permission for the Indian team to play Pakistan anywhere and cricketing relations between the two countries are at an all time low. And while this cold war continues, comes Yadav with his startling announcement.

"People have joked about my election to the post of BCA president. Even though I was least interested, I took up the responsibility," Yadav said following his election in Jamshedpur. "But I have taken my election to the post as a challenge and I will contribute my share to prop up Bihar on the world sporting map", he said.

For starters, Yadav has pledged that he would do his best for fully equipping the Moinul Haq Stadium in Patna to hold day-night matches. Then he came up with the unexpected announcement. "The first of these matches will be organised between India and Pakistan" and added for good measure that religion and politics would not get in the way of promotion of sports.

Demonstrating his hold on the state, Yadav said the funds crunch would not be allowed to come in the way of promoting sports in Bihar. "Once I hold the office, people from several quarters will come forward to generously contribute to promote sports." To show that his new found interest was not confined to cricket, Yadav said he would also take steps for promoting football, volleyball, kabaddi and other sports.

Yadav may have a lot of ambitious plans, but given his inexperience in the field, he may have to depend overmuch on the newly elected secretary of the association, Ajay Narayan Sharma. A former Ranji Trophy cricketer and currently a state selector, Sharma said "we are trying to get and organise a one-day international match during the proposed England and Zimbabwe tours of India in the coming season."

Sharma declared that the election of Yadav was a "great achievement for Bihar cricket" and proceeded to add that "Bihar cricket, under the able guidance of Laloo Prasad Yadav would achieve in three years what it could not in the last 60 years."

Be that as it may, Yadav and Sharma will first to have to solve the Jharkhand issue. Last year, Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar and Sharma has indicated that in the coming season, Bihar and Jharkhand might play as one team as it would be difficult to set up two teams immediately. But the problem is that there are two bodies in the newly formed state - the Jharkhand Cricket Association and the Cricket Association of Jharkhand. So Yadav will have to solve this dispute and set his own house in order before he can think of bigger things.

And indeed, Yadav perhaps already has his sights set on bigger things. He is firmly entrenched as BCA President and making it clear that he means business and as a result, cricket administration in the country may be heading for unexpected twists and turns. It must not be forgotten that, by rotation, it is the turn of East Zone to have its nominee confirmed as BCCI president in September 2002 when the term of the current incumbent AC Muthiah ends. Now is that a sobering or an exciting thought? It certainly is food for thought.