For many years, Indian cricket has disliked 2 concerns– the formation of a players’ association, and conflict of interest. Even legends in their prime, though they attempted, could not sustain a players’ association. The Board of Control for Cricket in India saw it as a trade union, and equally, there was no unanimity among the gamers themselves.
It took the Lodha Committee and the Supreme Court to deal with both concerns. Thus was the Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) formed last year, 87 years after India played their very first Test match. And even that was a little a compromise given that it was for former players (males and females) just, and present players had no function. That ought to alter if the body is to be truly representative. These are baby actions.
The president of the ICA, former gamer Ashok Malhotra, said just recently, “I am finding it really difficult to work in this space.” The needs are increased medical insurance for former gamers, pension for those who have played fewer than 25 First Class matches and likewise financial help for the widows of previous gamers. There is too the demand to launch Manoj Prabhakar’s benevolent fund given that his ban for match-fixing ended in2005 It is a list t