The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office-bearers and the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators have clashed again and this time over the speaker of the prestigious MAK Pataudi Memorial Lecture. In a surprise move, the CoA felt that Kumar Sangakkara was the best candidate to speak at the awards, but the move hasn’t gone down too well with the BCCI officials. Board members feel that former Indian cricketers who played alongside the man famously called Tiger Pataudi would bring more value to the occasion and feel someone among Nari Contractor, Chandu Borde, Erapalli Prasanna and Abbas Ali Baig should be invited as the speaker.
“When the matter was discussed with me at Bangalore a couple of days ago I had suggested we also look for probable speakers amongst distinguished cricketers of yesteryears such as Nari Contractor, Chandu Borde, Erapalli Prasanna and Abbas Ali Baig. These cricketers have even the distinction of having played alongside Tiger Pataudi and if any of them agrees it could provide the much needed perspective on how cricket has evolved from those years of challenge. Nari was the captain of the touring Indian Team to West Indies when he was struck by a bouncer and the brave man faced it all. This had resulted in Tiger taking over as the youngest ever Test captain having to lead a team of stalwarts such as Manjrekar, Borde, Nadkarni, Jaishima and Umrigar.
“Chandu Borde was one of the most prolific batsmen of the day while Prasanna became the fastest Indian to take hundred wickets in Tests. Baig was the first ever Indian to make a century on debut on foreign soil and otherwise a very distinguished cricketer. It is these past heroes who led to the razzle dazzle of today’s cricket. Unfortunately, when the proposal came there was no mention of any of these past cricketers.
“As I understand Tiger Memorial Lecture is not an elocution contest and reasonable communication skills are all that we should look for. It is meant to bring to the fore the evolution of the game, what it meant to play for the country in the old days, the hardships of the time, challenges of the future and the like. If that be the case, certainly once every few years an iconic cricketer of yore should find a place as the keynote speaker in the memorial lecture. Besides, the present heroes could always come in later as renowned cricketers of the past are a disappearing species,” Amitabh wrote to Rai.
Sangakkara, meanwhile, has been considered as one of the greatest batsman of modern era and more importantly probably the best speaker in cricket world.
