Governance in Indian cricket: Examining the Board of Control for Cricket in India through the good governance framework

Abstract

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is one of the biggest, wealthiest and most influential sport governing bodies in the world. The BCCI has overseen traditional Test cricket in India since 1928. In 2008, the Indian cricket landscape shifted with the development of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a Tweny20 cricket league that has exploded in popularity since its launch. The BCCI also governs over the IPL, which generates extensive income and has raised the profile of Indian cricket around the world. However, recent controversies and corruption scandals have brought increasing scrutiny to the BCCI. In this study, the good governance framework from UK sport is applied to examine the BCCI. The good governance framework is used to examine five elements of the BCCI: structure, people, communication, standards and conduct, and policies and process. Through interviews with expert journalists and researchers (n = 6), it is clear that the BCCI needs to make significant reforms to better align with good governance principles. Namely, the BCCI must address concerns over transparency, accountability, managing conflicts of interests, structural problems and revise their policies and processes. On the other hand, participants applauded the BCCI’s contributions to enhancing cricket globally.