The big news: Anurag Thakur plays tough

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur said a final call on the rest of the New Zealand tour tour of India will be taken on Wednesday, after the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha committee put two of its bank transactions on hold. The New Zealand tour has one Test and five One-Day Internationals remaining after India won the first two Tests.

“We need some clarity first,” Thakur told Hindustan Times. “We need to know where we can spend our money and where we cannot. If we are stopped from paying state associations for hosting matches then cricket can’t go on. We need clarity and better communication from the Lodha committee on this,” he said.

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Thakur said the freezing of funds can be seen as governmental interference and the International Cricket Council can take action regarding the same. Like all other world sports bodies, in cricket too there are provisions to suspend affiliated units for government interference, he added.

Thakur has termed the Lodha panel’s decision to freeze the board’s transactions to its state cricket associations as “unfortunate”, saying the decision has put the ongoing series in trouble. He said that any tournament cannot be held without funds being available. “Cricket cannot run without money. We don’t take money from the government. We are not allowed to make payments. I can’t say anything about the India–New Zealand series. Team India is No. 1 today. When we are financing state boards, questions are being raised,” he said.

However, Justice Lodha clarified that the panel's comments were misinterpreted. He said the panel has only asked the board to not distribute large funds to state associations while routine functions such as hosting of cricket matches can go ahead as planned.

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