DNA Edit: Tendulkar’s fury - BCCI has goofed up by charging the iconic cricketer

Sachin Tendulkar is furious. The former superstar, pretty much the presiding deity of Indian cricket long years after he quit the game, is known for his affable nature and low-key persona, despite his status.

Tendulkar is rarely known to have lost his cool, but when he does, as he has now, the world takes notice. He has good reasons. In a career spanning well over two decades, Tendulkar was known for his impeccable behaviour both on and off the field. He was admired for this by compatriots and rivals alike.

What has got his goat is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has levelled the conflict of interest charge against Tendulkar. The legend has been accused of conflict of interest due to his dual role as a member of BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) and an Icon of IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

In a stinging rebuttal, Tendulkar said that he had been declared as the Mumbai Indians’ Icon after his retirement in 2013, which was much before his appointment to the CAC in 2015. The upset cricketer has pointed out that despite his many queries to the BCCI on the scope of his role in the CAC, no reply has been forthcoming.

He has expressed dismay that the BCCI – which was responsible for his empanelment to the CAC in the first place – should be levelling such a charge. Tendulkar has a point. The BCCI, often charged with being party to murky deals, needs to get its act together.

They have no business to raise question marks against a person, whose probity has never been under any doubt. If they do so, it needs to be backed by evidence. A people’s hero like Tendulkar cannot be shown in poor light just because an organisation is incompetent or has not done its homework.