Kirti Azad: Money has kept BCCI members together

“BCCI is like a spoilt child. When Lodha Committee said that enough is enough and the game can't be run like this, this spoilt child, after his toys have been taken away from him, is crying,” the Times of India reported Azad as saying.

“Everywhere there's a ruling party or group and the opposition, except for the BCCI. It's a united alliance – united in corruption and alliances for position. It's a classic mix of UPA and NDA.

“The board president was once UPA (Sharad Pawar) and now NDA (Anurag Thakur). Jyotiraditya Scindia lost the BCCI vice-president post and became a part of BCCI's most powerful finance committee. Rajiv Shukla lost the post of treasurer but became the IPL chairman. Nobody is friend or foe in BCCI. The money has kept them together.”

Azad said the BCCI should comply with the Lodha Committee’s reforms for the good of the game.

“Cricket isn't anybody's property. The current officials feel that BCCI is their personal fiefdom. We supported the recommendations and intervened in the Supreme Court. You see how hockey suffered because of bad management. Once it was the most popular game but now general public doesn't even know the names of our players. These recommendations have come just at the right time to save cricket,” he said.