How about a round of Kudos to Jagmohan Dalmiya?
Jagmohan Dalmiya, on July 17th, 2005, received the International Journal of the History of Sports Achievement award for administrative excellence in global sport. The scale of the achievement can be measured by the other winners, Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president and Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former International Olympic Committee chief.
He has been India's best sports administrator by far. He has often unfairly been criticized for his authoritarian style and hunger for power. Let us be unbiased and laud the man, celebrate his achievements and not pull him down all the time.
You know I have read the same criticisms of Dalmiya previously being applied to Samaranch. He is authoritarian, clung onto to the IOC post for too long, extended his term etc. etc. etc. People in power have to accept that criticism is a byproduct of the job, and the true test is to continue your job in face of criticism, instead of slipping into a quagmire by responding to it. To not respond, is against human nature, you have to be almost Gandhian to be like that, and very few people can do it. Dalmiya has responded to criticism and we have immediately labeled his actions vindictive, but for all his human frailties he has been a tremendous administrator. Just as we should not expect Tendulkar and Warne to be saints, let us not expect Dalmiya to be one. He is not, he is a scrappy doer and that is what we want from people in administrative positions.
Dalmiya made cricket a Global sport. None of the previous ICC Chairmen looked at the post as anything more than a golden parachute to enjoy their retirement. He made it professional, he made the ICC a body to contend with by enriching it's coffers and truly understanding the monetary value of the game of cricket. Not too far in the distant past, the ICC was often called a toothless tiger, and he changed that. Now all the cricket boards of the Test playing nations fear going against the ICC and its International Tours & Fixtures program. What an amazing turn around!
It is an incredible story, and one worth making a movie about. Well done Jaggu-da, I am proud of you.
posted by nish_the_dish @ 2:01 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Nish, though its true that Jaggu is a "scrappy doer", he is also the reason that Bangladesh was thrown into test cricket while barely a baby. He certainly goes ahead and accomplishes what he wants to do, but is it always what (Indian) cricket really needs?
Ray, No new nation enters Test cricket as serious challengers. How can you expand cricket beyond 9 countries if you don't allow newcomers to play Test cricket? The only way they can improve is by playing.
In the 128 years of cricket after the first Test match between England and Australia in 1877 we have added 8 more Test cricket nations. Isn't that the most pathetic development record in sports? If everybody wants to throw Bangladesh out of Test cricket then 100 years from now, in the year 2105 we will probably have added another 5 more nations to leave us with a grand total of 15 Test playing nations.
Is that what we want? As Don Bradman said, "We are all custodians of the game, and the game will prosper if we can leave it better than we found it."
We need to get more people involved in this game.
Nishanth
Post a Comment
<< Home