Ramachandra Guha questions BCCI's 'superstar syndrome' with MS Dhoni, attacks Sunil Gavaskar

Bengaluru, June 2: Historian Ramachandra Guha has attacked former captains Sunil Gavaskar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni after resigning from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Committee of Administrators (COA).

Full text of Guha's letter

Guha, who was part of the Supreme Court appointed COA, quit the panel yesterday (June 1) citing personal reasons. After relinquising his position, he wrote a detailed letter to committee head Vinod Rai where he explained his decision.

Guha has questioned the "superstar syndrome" in Indian cricket where he questioned Dhoni getting a Grade A contract despite not playing Test cricket. The former skipper had quit Tests in December 2014 but continues to feature in limited overs format for Team India.

"Unfortunately, this superstar syndrome has also distorted the system of Indian team contracts. As you will recall, I had pointed out that awarding MS Dhoni an 'A' contract when he had explicitly ruled himself out from all Test matches was indefensible on cricketing grounds, and sends absolutely the wrong message," Guha wrote in his letter.

He also questioned Gavaskar and his company Professional Management Group (PMG) for managing India cricketers and conflict of interest leading to it.

"Sunil Gavaskar is head of a company which represents Indian cricketers while commenting on those crickters as part of the BCCI TV commentary panel. This is a clear conflict of interest. Either he must step down/withdraw himself from PMG completely or stop being a commentator for BCCI," he said.

Guha attached a newspaper report where PMG had signed India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan.

Next, Guha pointed out that Anil Kumble's coaching contract was not handled well by the BCCI. Kumble was given a one-year contract and it expires at the end of ICC Champions Trophy on June 18.

Guha wrote, "The way in which the contract of Anil Kumble, the current Head Coach of the senior team, has been handled. The Indian team's record this past season has been excellent; and even if the players garner the bulk of the credit, surely the Head Coach and his support staff also get some. In a system based on justice and merit, the Head Coach's term would have been extended. Instead, Kumble was left hanging, and then told the post would be re-advertised afresh.

"Clearly, the issue has been handled in an extremely insensitive and unprofessional manner by the BCCI CEO and the BCCI office-bearers, with the COA, by its silence and inaction, unfortunately being complicit in this regard."

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