Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has lauded Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Jay Shah for his quality of governance. Gavaskar feels Shah has done more for cricket because of his love for the game. He took a jibe at people for making him an easy target and went on to say that he has done for cricket as administrator than former cricketers have done in his position.
“I think the quality of governance has always been in such that they’ve always looked at promoting Indian Cricket. There will always be the odd person who's been a little disappointing. But I think what this particular lot has done has been quite outstanding. I think I know a lot of people who don't look at Jay Shah, but look at his father being in the government and therefore take aim at him,” Gavaskar told Aaj Tak.
Gavaskar credited Shah for Women’s Premier League’s (WPL) perfect execution, equal pay for women cricketers and overall increase in remuneration of players.
“But what Jay Shah has done, bringing in the women's Premier League, making the women's payment on par with the Indian men's team, increasing the fees for the domestic guys, doubling the incentive to play all the matches. All the things that he has done are praiseworthy. A lot of people don't want to give him any credit because of another agenda completely, a political agenda,” he added.
Gavaskar's bold claim
Gavaskar explained why he thinks Shah has done more for Indian cricket than former cricketers.
“And my experience is that those who love the game of cricket will do a lot more for Indian cricket than those who have actually played it. That's been my experience. I'm sorry to say, but my experience is that those who actually love the game of cricket might not have played at the highest level. They will, if you tell them properly, if you convince them, they will do a lot more for Indian cricket than those who have played it. Because those who have played it sometimes tend to stay back in their age,” the 74-year-old said.
“I would say that I would rather have ex cricketers for technical issues like rules of the game, playing conditions of the game, what should be done to make the Ranji trophy more competitive,” he added.
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