NOT JUST A NIGHTWATCHMAN (HB)

 ‘It is a great honour for me to have been
chosen by the Supreme Court. I see my role in the BCCI only as a
nightwatchman.’

When Vinod Rai humbly commented about his appointment as the head of the
Supreme Court-mandated Committee of Administrators (CoA) on national
television on 30 January 2017, little did he know that he would stay at the
crease for 33 months! In the next few days, the CoA came to grips with their
onerous responsibility—that of overseeing the administration of one of the
richest sports bodies in the world, the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI).

Notwithstanding his ardent support for the game, Rai refused to be blind to
the flaws in its governance. And so the nightwatchman decided to play on the
front foot; a characteristic style that he carries forward as he describes
his innings in Not Just a Nightwatchman.