'Superstar culture' – This was the term coined and made famous by noted historian Ramachandra Guha when he exited the Committee of Administrators (CoA), appointed to administer cricket in India by the Supreme Court.
Guha's belief was that some were more equal than others in the Indian cricket. Since Guha’s exit in 2017, this term has been proved right multiple times by cricketers and the system.
We got another glimpse of that on Friday night when a petulant Rishabh Pant attempted to recall his batters in response to a poor call by on-field umpires during the Delhi Capitals v Rajasthan Royals clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
This was absolutely unacceptable and what was even worse was the sight of Pravin Amre, assistant coach of Delhi, running onto the field to argue with the umpires. This while Shane Watson, the other assistant coach of Delhi and some other players kept counselling Pant against it. But Pant was insistent and carried on. He was later repentant and, in fact, has been fined, alongside Amre and Shardul Thakur.
Why and how did Pant believe this was a fine thing to do on a cricket field? Would this happen in an international contest or say in The Hundred or the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia? Never! There is a fear of the long arm of the law or, in this case, the rules and regulations of a tournament that you are part of.
Here, during the Indian Premier League (IPL), it has been a bit of free-for-all, with absolutely no control on the on-field action. It has been decided that we have the best product in the world, lots of bells and whistles around it and some of the best players (minus Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc and a few others), so let’s play.
But there was a small detail that was forgotten by all and that is related to the men who are supposed to manage the action on the field when play starts at 3.30 pm or 7.30 pm – the umpires. They have conveniently been forgotten. Hence, players like Pant feel that they can get away with everything under the floodlights. What will happen at the most? A fine! But will that stop him from playing the next game or the game after that? Nope, never.
The courage comes from the fact that the Playing Control Team (PCT) in almost all games during this IPL consists of a couple of inexperienced Indian umpires and a match referee who is a distinguished former first-class player. This is nothing that can scare a player who considers himself a superstar.
Not just Pant, even the likes of Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow, amongst many others, have been seen arguing with the umpires. This is a clear case of the officials being bullied because the players feel that the officials don’t have the stature to counter them. The umpiring standards have also contributed to the impression that the players can get away with anything on the field. So, it has been a complete free-for-all.
It is plain and simple in India: cricketers or anyone in particular fear only men of stature and everyone else is kosher to be bullied. We are seeing a fine example of that in the ongoing IPL.
In the early years of the IPL, the world’s best umpires and match referees, who were also part of the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s elite panel, were available to officiate in the tournament. No player would dare do the kind of things they have been doing in the last couple of seasons. This is because the powers that be have decided to play safe and ‘encourage’ local talent. That is very good in theory, but does that help the tournament?
You have the world’s best tournament and you compromise on the one fact that actually matters the most, umpiring? This is completely unacceptable.
Hence, we have umpires and match referees affiliated to powerful sections, who get mollified in some way or the other by these appointments. This is not lost on the players who have seen these gentlemen around over the years. So, the behaviour feels justifiable to the players.
This needs to stop pronto.
The appointment of umpires and match referees should reflect the stature of the IPL. They must be the best in the world, irrespective of where they come from. The pressure for this must come from the IPL franchises because they have much more at stake than everyone else connected with the tournament. One bad move by an umpire and they can be out of the title race. We have already seen a few players walking away cursing themselves for a poor call by an umpire, especially Virat Kohli. For a batter already struggling with bad form, Kohli’s stay in one of the games was cut short by another umpiring howler.
Not just the calls on the field, even the push to complete the allotted overs within a stipulated time has gone for a toss. There appears to be no push from the on-field umpires to hasten the movement between the overs and or indeed during an over. The umpires have been a bit too soft and that is also down to inexperience. The players also know that the most they can be penalised is with a hefty fine, which does not count for much.
So, the nub of the issue in the end is the team of match officials that administers a game. Whether we like it or not, it is an Indian issue, where we prostrate only before someone with stature. If we don’t get the vibe, then more such cases like Pant will keep coming up.
What everyone forgets is that Pant got the courage to do what he did when he saw his predecessor, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, do exactly the same thing. Dhoni walked onto the field a few seasons ago, again in a final over, again with Rajasthan Royals on the field. Dhoni was always mindful of his stature in an international game and bottled up his anger when in blue. But when in yellow, Dhoni cared two hoots as he walked out to confront another local umpire, because he knew that everyone would look away.
He was proved right and everyone ‘sympathised’ with Dhoni for being pushed into a corner to get out of his comfort zone.
Now that is superstar culture, which has now been institutionalised in Indian cricket.
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