CoA Issues Warning To ICC, Says BCCI Won't Recognise Recent Board Decisions

The International Cricket Council, during the board meeting in Dubai, gave its consent to an extra global tournament (six-nation 50-over format) apart from two T20 World Cups and two 50-over World Cup in the next eight-year cycle. However, the battle lines have now been drawn with the Committee of Administrators shooting a strongly-worded mail to the ICC saying that it will not recognise the decisions made by the ICC in their board meeting and pointing out that the ICC had no right to interfere in the internal matter of the Indian cricket board. However, the proposal to have an ODI World Cup after every three years, was rejected by the members.

The reason - India's authorised representative at the BCCI, Amitabh Choudhary was barred by the CoA from attending ICC meeting but participated in the policy-decision voting on the invitation of Shashank Manohar-led global body. In a strongly worded email to ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney, the CoA, which will demit office on October 23 gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the recent decisions.

"The CoA doesn't recognise the participation of Amitabh Choudhary as a representative of the BCCI to the ICC. Accordingly, no decisions or commitments (if any) undertaken by him, on behalf of BCCI, will be binding on the BCCI. Likewise, any decision that the ICC may claim to have taken during the meeting will neither bind the BCCI nor will it recognise the same. ICC cannot claim or otherwise have any say or role whatsoever in the rights of BCCI to duly nominate its representative. Please note that ICC's action amounts to an illegal and uncalled for intrusion in the internal affairs of a member nation," the email stated.

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However, with the BCCI now undergoing change and with Sourav Ganguly set to be appointed as the president of the Indian cricket board, many believe that the former India captain will take the utmost care to ensure India's interests are not hurt. "As our president-elect Sourav Ganguly has already made it clear that BCCI will rightfully claim what it deserves. It hardly makes any difference to what CoA does. In any case, the BCCI wouldn't have been a party to any such policy decision by the ICC, where Manohar's only aim is to hit the BCCI revenues," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

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