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Sunil Gavaskar may be asked to pick between company, commentary

Gavaskar is head of a company which represents Indian cricketers. And while commenting on those cricketers as part of the BCCI TV commentary panel, there is clear cut conflict of interest on his part.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to ask former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar to choose between his firm (Professional Management Group) or official commentary panel to avoid any kind of conflict of interest.

On Wednesday, the BCCI during its meeting with the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) discussed the panel of commentators for the upcoming home season. DNA has reliably learnt that BCCI zeroed in on the names of Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Murali Karthik and Harsha Bhogle but it was also agreed upon to only approve the panel once all the four take an undertaking that "they are not part of any player-management firm".

This is the result of conflict of interest issue pointed out by former COA member Ramachandra Guha in his resignation letter. Guha had clearly mentioned how Gavaskar's association with PMG, a firm which manages a few Indian cricketers, is against the spirit of Justice Lodha panel reforms.

"Gavaskar is head of a company which represents Indian cricketers. And while commenting on those cricketers as part of the BCCI TV commentary panel, there is clear cut conflict of interest on his part. This is high time that he either steps down/withdraws himself from PMG completely or stops being a commentator for BCCI," Guha had said in his exit letter.

It was also learnt that Board is unanimous on this issue and would not offer any formal contracts to any of the four names if they don't give it in writing. Gavaskar may have to think twice before signing the contract because of his long association with the company.

Gavaskar was being paid Rs 4 crore annually for his commentary services and Board officials are expecting the former captain to ask for a compensation in lieu of his exit from PMG. "No one (read Gavaskar) will not be entertained for any kind of compensation," said an official.

Reward for selectors

Meanwhile, BCCI also announced a reward of Rs 15 lakh each to the men's and women's team selectors for their "good performances" recently.
This is to reward the selectors for Team India's good showing (eighth consecutive Test series win) in Sri Lanka and women's team's outstanding showing in the ICC Women's World Cup.
On the issue of pay revision for first-class cricketers, it was decided to ask COA member Diana Edulji and BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry to come up with suggestion regarding the same.
It was also pointed out during the meeting that only 10 state associations have followed the directives of COA to put the names of their members and office-bearers on the web.
"Those who have not done that, their names will figure in the next Status Report to be filed in the Supreme Court before August 18 hearing," said Edulji.

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