Kolkata: After the Committee of Administrators warned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of severe consequences if India’s pull-out from the Champions Trophy actually happens, the Indian cricket board has hit back. Board officials said that the Supreme Court-appointed body was appointed for the sole purpose of ensuring that clean and proper cricket is played and that they should keep away from interfering in the administration.
The board members have accused the Vinod Rai-led Committee of Administrators (COA) of causing hindrances in the arriving at a decision against the ICC. They also claim that the COA have gone well out of their way to plan meetings with the ICC. They have also said that they are already experienced in the administration of cricket and that the COA should let them freely take their own decisions.
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Reports from a section of media suggest that a senior member of the board said, “They have no clue how world cricket functions. They should have let the senior members in the board handle the ICC. Instead of doing that, they went ahead and met ICC officials in Dubai. The SC didn’t appoint them for this, did they?”
“I appreciate what the CoA was doing to clean Indian cricket, to bring in more transparency, to bring more accountability. But, they should have let the senior members handle ICC matters because they have proper insight and understanding of matters” he further added.
…since Dalmiya’s time
The senior BCCI functionary went on to cite examples from the past where the late Jagmohan Dalmiya toiled hard for years to bring in a revolution in the governance of cricket, which was dominated by England and Australia. Courtesy his and a lot of efforts from other people, India moved their way up to the top, and have rightfully earned the position they are in.
He said, “Everybody knows how the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Cricket Australia (CA) arm-twisted others when they enjoyed veto powers. It took Jagmohan Dalmiya many years to change that equation, which was later strengthened by BCCI presidents who took over after him.”
He also highlighted the new revenue model of the ICC, and said that this move, quite unjustifiably has brought down the Indian share of revenue to almost half and he also said that the BCCI shouldn’t give in to the pressures that’s been building upon the body but if it does, the entire system would end up in tatters.
“Everybody knows who is responsible for this new revenue- sharing model, but has anybody asked questions? There is no clear answer as to why India’s share has been halved. Whatever BCCI earns it percolates to the extreme bottom, from players to umpires, curators, scorers et al. It is undoubtedly one of the most professionally-run organisations in the country, so if the revenue decreases, the entire system will suffer” he signed off saying.
This retaliation by the Indian cricket board gives us the answer as to why the board has been adamant on it’s stand to reinvoke the 2014 ‘ Big Three Plan’. The SGM meeting on the 7th is likely to put an end to all doubts and answer all questions about India’s participation in the ‘mini-World Cup.’
(With inputs from www.crictracker.com)