Dhoni

Calcutta: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn’t reacted to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s “…we might as well have the whole (selection) meeting telecast live…” comment, made last Saturday, but the captain actually only repeated what Kishan Rungta had said way back in the summer of 1997.

Rungta, then Central’s man on the selection committee, had (on May 31 of that year) told The Telegraph: “If proceedings can be telecast live from Parliament, something not even thought of till recently, I see no reason why selection meetings can’t be accorded similar treatment.”

Speaking from Mumbai, exactly a week after Dhoni raised the issue in Bangalore, Rungta said: “The point I made then holds good now too… I can’t understand why a selection meeting has to be held behind closed doors… Why should the deliberations be such a secret?”

Rungta added: “Bringing about transparency via a live telecast would, in my opinion, be healthy for Indian cricket… It’s important for players to know what the selectors and the two co-opted members (captain, coach) of the committee think about them… Indeed, it’s important for players to know where they stand… I’m glad that Dhoni thinks on similar lines.”

Dhoni, of course, had spoken out of anger — upset that the media got to know of his differences with the selectors over Rudra Pratap Singh’s omission from the Team India XV.

While Rungta didn’t make a written suggestion, he did “verbally” convey the live telecast bit to the-then BCCI secretary, Jagmohan Dalmiya.

“Nothing happened… From what I remember, Mr Dalmiya felt telecasting live would become controversial… I’d be happy if the present dispensation takes steps in that direction,” Rungta signed off.

Significantly, two former selectors are office-bearers of the BCCI and one of them endorsed Rungta’s view. However, he did so in his “private capacity” and didn’t wish to be quoted.

No selection meeting anywhere is telecast live, at least not in cricket, but what’s the harm in setting a precedent?