MS Shanker
In India, dynasties don’t fade; they just change uniforms. Some wear crisp white kurtas and sit in Parliament; others slip into blazers and preside over cricket associations. Either way, they rule. Elections and trials are for the aam aadmi; succession is strictly for the khaas aadmi’s son, daughter, nephew, or, when imagination runs out, son-in-law.
The thought struck me after a WhatsApp forward (our national think tank) listed how every political party has been turned into a family-run limited company. I passed it along to a sports writer friend, who shot back: “Mama, try this filter on cricket too.” I did, and lo and behold, cricket administration is no different. If politics is a family business, cricket is the in-law who copied the business model.
First, let’s glance at our “democratic” parties. The Congress? Sonia’s son. NCP? Pawar’s daughter. RJD? Lalu’s son. SP? Mulayam’s son. Akali Dal? Badal’s son. TMC? Mamata’s nephew. DMK? Karunanidhi’s son. JDS? Deve Gowda’s son. PDP? Mufti’s daughter. Shiv Sena? Uddhav’s son. YSRCP? Rajasekhara Reddy’s son. JMM? Shibu Soren’s son. LJP? Paswan’s son. BJD? Biju Patnaik’s son. TDP? Chandrababu’s son. INLD? Chautala’s son. RLD? Ajit Singh’s son.
And the BJP? They claim they don’t do dynasties—unless you count being the “sons of Bharat Mata,” which is basically a family tree running from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Not bad coverage.
So much for democracy. Which party really worries about the country when there are sons and daughters to promote? Inheritance, not ideology, is the binding glue.
Now, cricket. You thought at least the gentleman’s game was about merit? Silly you. The cricket boardroom, like Parliament, is also a family living room.
- Rohan Jaitley, son of late former BJP Union Minister Arun Jaitley, now runs DDCA.
- Former Congress leader and now member of Narendra Modi’s cabinet, Jyotiraditya Scindia’s 29-year-old Mahanaryaman Scindia—whose royal title already sounds like a franchise—heads MPCA.
- R. Sigamani, son of DMK’s Ponmudi, climbed into TNCA.
- Vijay Patil, son of DY Patil, lords over Mumbai cricket.
- And the jackpot: Jay Shah, son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, once BCCI honcho, now ICC Chairman. From Motera to Melbourne, that surname opens doors wider than a Chris Gayle six.
This isn’t accidental. Cricket is the only sport in India where the scoreboard doesn’t just measure runs and wickets but also surnames. Talent gets you a Ranji trial; family connections get you the presidency of an association, with complimentary samosas and power to boot.
The irony is almost poetic. Politics is supposed to be about representation; cricket about performance. Instead, both are about bloodlines. Nepotism is our true national sport. We just change the jersey depending on whether we’re in the Assembly or at a cricket stadium.
But here’s the cruel twist: we, the public, lap it up. We cheer Rahul Gandhi’s latest speech and Jay Shah’s latest committee announcement as if they’ve earned it through sweat and toil, not DNA and dynastic privilege. And then we wonder why politics limps and cricket administration stumbles.
India loves to boast about being the world’s largest democracy. Perhaps it’s time to add a footnote: democracy in politics, and meritocracy in cricket, both come with one condition—family first.
Until then, dynasts will keep batting, bowling, and governing. We, the people, remain the permanent twelfth man.
