Prof who transformed Indian cricket administration

 Chemistry was his forte. Cricket was his passion. It was his chemistry with the cricket that mattered most to him. He was in his elements with cricket activities, first at the college level, then with MumbaiCA and finally experimented at India’s premier cricket lab, the BCCI. Thank God, Indian cricket found him.

 He was the catalyst as well as the initiator of schemes that transformed Indian cricket administration into a highly professional organization: coaching camps, pension schemes, talent spotters, match referees, computerization, semi-urban venues, north-east teams, match fees, etc. He handled huge loads of work without a sweat. 

With sharp eyes and grim determination his decisions motivated players, officials, office-staff and most importantly the most neglected sections in Indian cricket: umpires, scorers, support-staff and junior cricket. He was full of ideas and his execution was immediate. No long speeches; just super-fast, efficient actions. Highest integrity, sharp intelligence and impeccable manner were his constant companions.

Never gave unnecessary importance to administrators including egoistic presidents and secretaries. Had no time for cronies and parasites who paraded as officials and sponsors. No bravado in front of the media. He concentrated on his job. Full stop. Thank you.

He knew whom to concentrate on. His full attention was on Mr Cricket India, the one and only Polly Umrigar. Preserved and utilized Polly-kaka’s various views including the pension scheme for retired cricketers which lay rotting on the table of various BCCI presidents for 8 long years.

Prof Shetty, as he was universally regarded, came right into the forefront of the national cricket scenario when at the first available opportunity he put forward the well-researched pension scheme to the newly arrived president Sharad Pawar in 2005. Doddering former cricketers – long forgotten – and their families blessed him for the yeoman task he undertook.

No ego stopped him from introducing Mack Waingankar’s idea of talent spotters (TRDO system). Later introduced match referees with very high powers and recruited former cricketer Stanley Saldanha to introduce computerization.

Facilities for junior cricketers improved leaps and bounds during his time. Umpires, scorers, video-analysts, curators, support-staff, etc all received improved facilities and more.

First saw him at a Calcutta hotel where the BCCI-appointed talent spotters were asked to meet BCCI officials including Brijesh Patel and Dilip Vengsarkar. That was at the end of the 2^nd season of the TRDO (talent scout) system, my first as talent scout.

At the meeting the east zone TRDO chief found faults with my reporting. I insisted that the BCCI officials themselves have another look into the reports I had submitted over the past few months. They did and found no problems at all. In fact both Brijesh and Dilip were glad that I had mentioned the prominent young talents of various state teams.  A pair of bright eyes from BCCI sitting at one extreme end read my reports and gave me a long stare. No, no, no love at first sight!

Next season the east zone chief was out and I remained! Surely that bright stare was the culprit! Following season I became one among the just introduced match referees panel with the dual task of talent scouting.

Too many very strict decisions of a frail, ‘oldie-beardie’ upset a lot of unruly influential cricketers and officials in Indian cricket. In time, for me the ICC (Asia Region) followed as the first non-Test cricketer to be an international match referee from India.

Then came the IPL invitation, another first for a non-Test player. I do not know how many battles Prof Shetty had to fight to keep the ‘smiling assassin’ sitting on those chairs for ten long years.

In between, the two profs – chemistry and sports management – combined to tread on many influential toes! The sole intent of both was not for anyone’s delight but for NATIONAL INTEREST.

Thanks, Prof, for discovering the match ref in me. A job I genuinely relished. May God keep blessing you: a role model for all sports administrators.