Kolkata: Going by the current scheme of things, after their share of the revenue was almost halved, it seems likely that the BCCI would strike back by withdrawing out of the upcoming mega-cricketing event Champions Trophy 2017. This however is a huge worry for the tournament hosts as not many days are left for the start of the competition.
This would indeed be a huge blow if India, who are the defending champions decide to withdraw themselves from the event feels former Proteas pacer and tournament director Steve Elworthy.
As quoted by the guardian.co.uk, Elsworthy said, “The blow, if you think of the number of games we have sold out across the tournament, would be huge.”
“India have an incredibly strong support base in this country. Never mind the operational issues, which would be immense…But at the moment we are just cracking on and planning everything as if they are coming,” he further added.
The threat of India’s pull-out of the premier cricketing event, further intensifies if seen in the context of the fact that the BCCI hasn’t yet named the squad for the ‘mini-World Cup’, the deadline for which was April 25.
After the recently concluded ICC meeting in Dubai, the Indian cricket board lost their cases on both the revenue sharing policy and the system of governance. As a matter of fact, their share of the revenue was slashed from $590 million to $293 million after the meeting and this, quite understandably displeased many in the BCCI.
Also, the controversial 2014’s ‘Big Three Plan’ was done away with. A BCCI SGM(Special General Meeting) is scheduled to be held on the 7th of May, where a final decision would be taken amidst reports of talks with the ICC for increasing their share of the revenue.
Some officials of the BCCI have been critical of former BCCI President and ICC chairman Shashank Manohar for playing a role in doing away with the ‘Big Three Plan’ which was designed by Indian cricket’s most controversial figure, N.Srinivasan. These people want India to opt out of the tournament which they believe, would send a strong message to the world. On the flip side, there is the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators, and some BCCI officials who believe in finding a more peaceful way out to this problem.
Gavaskar backs BCCI
Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, however feels that India’s pull-out would be well justified if the BCCI decides to invoke the Members Participation Agreement, which was a part of the 2014 deal.
Said Gavaskar to the NDTV, “If they go strictly by the book, when the 2014 model came into being, I think with that legal agreement, they are entirely within their rights if they decide to withdraw from the tournament.”
“The agreement that was there in 2014 has been completely overlooked. I don’t think we should forget that” further added the legend.
He also said that the Indian Premier League was too profitable a tournament for foreign players to keep away from and also that other national boards simply cannot boycott tours by the Indian team because of the massive revenue that the TV channels generate as India is one of the most popular and followed cricket teams in the world today.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times and NDTV)