Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia sat down for an exclusive interview with RevSportz. He touched upon many subjects.
Excerpts:
Q: It’s a momentous occasion. Guwahati would be hosting its first-ever Test match and it must be a proud feeling for you.
A: I have to thank Mr Jay Shah, who was the secretary of the BCCI when we first made the attempt to have a Test match in Guwahati. That was, we have to go back to the year 2019, in the month of June-July. We first made the request to the BCCI to allow us to host this match in Guwahati.
As you were saying, Nehru Stadium, you came earlier, hosted ODI matches from 1983 till 2011 and when we completed this stadium in 2017, a T20 match was played between India and Australia. That was the beginning of the journey of this ACA Stadium at Barsapara. And when we started the move to host this match in Guwahati, by that time, this venue was also successfully hosting several ODIs and T20Is.
The Test match was a long-pending request and hope for the people of Assam, especially the cricket enthusiasts, as well as of the entire north-eastern region because no north-eastern state or Assam has ever hosted any Test match.
Q: You must be expecting a very good turnout given that this is the first-ever Test match in Guwahati.
A: The whole endeavour is to bring maximum crowds to the stands so that whoever is willing to watch a Test match, money should not be a barrier. So, the purchasing capacity should not be a barrier for the cricket enthusiasts who are willing to watch a Test match involving two best teams of the world, India as well as South Africa. I have requested ACA to keep the price as low as possible and they have also adhered to our request and I’m sure there will be a very good turnout. I am told that about 70 per cent of the stadium tickets are already sold out.
Q: Moving to Indian cricket, this has been a fantastic year for the Indian teams in white-ball cricket. The men’s team won the Champions Trophy. The women’s team won the World Cup. How significant do you think this World Cup win is for women’s cricket?
A: This is a game-changer for women’s cricket in India, but I have to tell that from 2020 to 2023, when the BCCI under the tutelage of Jay Shah, when he was a secretary, it was his brainchild to start the WPL. That was a big challenge because nobody was willing at the initial stage that it could become a successful concept because the WPL is just a mirror image of IPL. So, when Jay Shah was there as secretary and we all as part of his team decided to have a WPL in 2020 to 2023, there were some objections coming from the Board members itself. But after a lot of discussions, Jay Shah was adamant to have it and after the floating of the tender and all, the response we got, it was unexpected and thereafter the golden era of Indian women’s cricket started, with the initiation of WPL with five franchises.
Q: Maybe, there’s a bit of concern when it comes to our Test team, given that we suffered a home series whitewash against New Zealand last year and this time also we lost the first Test against South Africa. And if by any chance India lose this Test, they would be suffering two whitewashes in a span of a little over 12 months, which has never happened in Indian cricket. So are you a bit concerned about India’s Test side?
A: One loss against South Africa in Kolkata will not dilute our plan to go into the next World Test Championship cycle. If you look at the New Zealand series, which was about a year ago, that was in the previous circle of WTC. So that was over when South Africa played Australia in England, that was the last match. After that, the new cycle started and in that cycle, India went to England to play five Test matches. That was drawn 2-2 and that boosted the confidence of the Indian Test team to look forward to the next cycle. Thereafter, India won against the West Indies 2-0.
So one loss, which was a sudden loss I should say in Kolkata. The margin was very narrow, 30 runs. So that will not upset our planning for going ahead with the WTC matches and the final is slated sometime in 2027. There is a long way to go. We are having a pretty new team with the retirement of R Ashwin, Virat Kohli as well as Rohit Sharma; three top players who are quite senior in the team with their experience. They have left Test cricket and therefore we are grooming a new team under the captaincy of Shubman Gill. So we have to have patience, we must boost up their confidence and we should not get ourselves with some knee-jerk reactions after one sudden defeat. So I am sure our boys will get back their confidence in the Guwahati Test and in the coming days they will perform superbly and your opinion about Indian Test cricket will change very soon.
Q: Coming back to the Asia Cup and the president of the Asian Cricket Council taking away the trophy, it has never happened in any tournament before. What is the status? I mean we had an ICC board meeting a few days back. Any discussion happened there and will India be getting the trophy that they deserve?
A: This is an unfortunate situation which has been going on since the final of the Asia Cup recently in Dubai. We hope the trophy will come back to India as soon as possible. In the ICC meeting, I personally met (ACC president) on the sidelines of the board meeting. We had several meetings, and in that meeting, the ICC chairman was also present. But not in the main meeting. When the meeting was over, we met at the same venue and there were some positive discussions, positive signs and very soon we hope that some solution will come out to close this chapter.
Q: Will the no-handshake policy against Pakistan continue in the Asia Cup and World Cup?
A: I am not an astrologer. I cannot predict anything. Everything is dependent on the geopolitical situation. The situation is not very conducive till now. Tomorrow I do not know.
Q: You must be going through social media, and whenever India lose any game, Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, finds himself at the receiving end of trolls, at the receiving end of the abuse. But he must have the full backing of the BCCI, isn’t it?
A: The BCCI has full confidence in our selectors, our coaching team, including the head coach and the players. We do not distinguish anybody. We give full support and that is why they are doing well. As you were saying, if somebody is losing a match, there is flak on social media. That we are always ignoring, because at the same time, with the same team, we are winning the Champions Trophy, we are performing exceedingly well in the Asia Cup, we won the trophy and we levelled the series against England in England.
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