West Indies call off tour, Sri Lanka fill void with five ODIs

In an extraordinary turn of events, the West Indies cricket team today pulled out of the remaining part of its India tour in the wake of an acrimonious ongoing pay dispute with their Board, prompting a livid BCCI to rope in Sri Lanka for a five-match ODI series.

The aggrieved Caribbean players were persuaded to take the field for the fourth ODI but have conveyed their decision to call off the remaining part of tour to the BCCI, which is now contemplating legal action against the visitors.

"The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has informed the BCCI of its decision to cancel the rest of its ongoing tour to India because of a dispute with its players, and has advised the BCCI that its players will return home immediately," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said.

"The reason given by WICB is that there were internal issues among their boys. The BCCI will be going to ICC and planning to sue the WICB and claim for damages. We will not take this lying down as we have cooperated with them in every aspect," Patel said.

"The BCCI is shocked and extremely disappointed at the decision taken by the WICB. The WICB's inability to resolve internal issues with its players and allowing the same to affect an ongoing bilateral series does not reflect well on any of those involved. The withdrawal gives little thought to the future of the game, the players and the long standing relations between the BCCI and the WICB," a strongly-worded statement from the BCCI said.

Hours after the sudden development, the BCCI managed to persuade Sri Lanka to play a five-match ODI series, which is likely to be held from November 1 to 15.

A top BCCI official said that it was deiced to play only the ODIs, keeping in mind the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.