Having lost the vote during ICC Board meeting in Dubai on April 26, BCCI now has to decide between losing money or losing its say in the cricketing affairs
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in its Special General Meeting (SGM) on Sunday, unanimously decided that Team India will participate in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2017 starting in England on June 1.
As DNA reported a day earlier, the selection committee meeting has been convened on Monday. The SGM has also given mandate to acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary to keep negotiating with the ICC on behalf of the BCCI on the issue of 'new revenue model' and 'governance' while keeping its legal options open.
The softening of stand by the former BCCI president N Srinivasan group came after he spoke via video conference from London, where he is undergoing treatment for his eye. The Tamil Nadu strong man stole the show by speaking on the issues of national interest.
"Let us give our boys a chance to defend their title," said Srinivasan, who was disqualified after Supreme Court orders of July 18, 2016 on account of over 70 years of age and serving for more than nine years in his state. "If the fight with ICC is only about money, I'm ready to forfeit even my (his state) part. But this is not just about money. It's about India's position there in the ICC. And, BCCI should not allow it to happen under any circumstance," he went on to say.
No cricket with Pak
Having spoken his mind on CT participation, Srinivasan intervened again when the matter was raised about Pakistan Cricket Board's notice to BCCI claiming $6.9 million in damages for not honouring the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed between the two boards on bilateral series.
When it was pointed out that Pakistan could be agreed upon playing in India "if the series is treated as host series of them and PCB gets major chunk of revenue as has been the practice for all host nations", Srinivasan strongly objected to any such suggestion.
"We had this kind of offer previously also during my tenure. But our stand was clear. We don't want to play a country in any bilateral series which is responsible for killing so many people at the border," Srinivasan silenced the debate.
Even Amitabh Chaudhary agreed that only the government can take a call when it comes to playing Pakistan. "I can assure you this is a subject on which government has to accord permission. BCCI has already written to the government in March regarding our Future Tours & Programmes (FTP). So, unless we get permission from them, I can't make a comment," Chaudhary said.
The Indian Premier League chairman Rajiv Shukla also made it clear that the Indian team will not be touring Pakistan due to serious security concerns that have been raised by all major cricketing nations.
"They have sent a notice and we will give appropriate response. We have had a consistent policy that we will play on each other's soil. Pakistan's security situation is not such where you can have a series on their soil. Only Zimbabwe has played a series and no other country is touring Pakistan because they are not being able to provide adequate security," added Shukla after the meeting.
What next?
Having lost the vote during ICC Board meeting in Dubai on April 26, BCCI now has to decide between losing money or losing its say in the cricketing affairs.
Committee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai also shared the views of SGM that "India must try and fight on the question of governance".
"We are going to get more money, whether it's $100 million or something else. But the bigger issue is not money. It's the new governance model and we must try and salvage our position there during the next meeting," said Rai.
It must be mentioned that the BCCI lost the vote on revenue model 1-9, while on the question of 'governance and constitutional changes' the verdict was 2-8.
Going by the atmosphere at venue of the SGM, it looked everyone was jumping to take the credit for CT participation. If Shukla and acting president CK Khanna were vocal about "how they managed to bring everyone agreed on this critical issue", then the Supreme Court-appointed COA chief Rai looked relieved.
Asked why Srinivasan or former Saurashtra boss Niranjan Shah were allowed to take part in the meeting, Rai left it to SC to take a call on the issue.
"The matter, whether the age and tenure clause applies to only office-bearers or to state association members also, is pending before the Court. I don't want to say more on this," was all he offered.
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