When the rough and tough guy of Indian cricket Kapil Dev shed tears on screen, the nation got dumb stuck. While the skeptical questioned why the Haryana Hurricane had not shouted instead, the kinder souls shared the agony of a man that cries after being slapped with false allegations. Not only Kapil Dev, but a slew of other leading Indian cricketers was dragged into the match fixing controversy with the then skipper Mohammad Azharuddin topping the list of maligned cricketers. The controversy led to the sacking of several officials, a number of players including Azhar were penalized. But even then, the people were left with the feeling that there had still remained a few nasty secret that escaped the cricket news media’s prying eyes.

But now that Lele’s book, ‘I Was There’ is due in November, the Indian cricket lovers would finally get to know at least some of the truth of match fixing and betting scandals that remained hidden behind the curtain for so many years. The former BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele, during whose tenure the match-fixing controversy had surfaced, has already completed penning six chapters of his memoir on his BCCI days.

“I always wanted to write a book on my experiences with the BCCI. How I joined the board? How I worked my way up and the moments I spent with cricketers. This book will talk about all my experiences,” Lele was quoted saying. Naturally, the book may prove to be a Pandora’s Box for the followers of the cricket in the country as well as for several former and current cricketers and BCCI officials.

“My book will talk about several interesting moments in Indian cricket; my conversations with top cricketers and BCCI officials and also about betting and fixing allegations. I will also write about my long stint with the BCA,” said Lele. When asked to give a few hints as to what kind of secrets his book is going to deal with, he offered one; “Majority of members of the probe committee on match-fixing allegation were against penalizing Mohammed Azharuddin and other players. However, one of the members didn’t relent and hence action was taken against all the cricketers involved.”

When asked to recall the most memorable incident during his stint with BCCI, Lele said, “There was one incident in 1999 when Kapil Dev demanded individual rooms for all junior players whereas according to the norm junior players always share rooms. While the then president agreed with Kapil, I put my foot down and refused to give in to Kapil’s demand, as it would have inflated our budget considerably.”

The book is not going to spare BCA as well. It can be easily assumed that Lele, who finished his stint with BCA on a bitter note, resigning from BCA secretary’s post in 2001, to be removed from the association on charges of corruption latter, would talk about many things that may not actually be music to the ears of many key cricket personalities in the country.

It is to be seen, how the book shapes up in reality? All publicity gimmicks or a truly courageous step to reveal Indian cricket’s dirty secrets? To know the answer, we have to wait till November this year.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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