The Indian cricket team will participate in next month’s Champions Trophy after the Board of Control for Cricket in India gave its all clear to the move in a Special General Meeting on Sunday, a massive climbdown from its initial aggressive stance, reported PTI.
The Board announced that the squad for the eight-team event, starting June 1 in England, will be picked tomorrow. It was decided that no legal recourse will be taken against the International Cricket Council as per the diktat of the Committee Of Administrators.
The ICC welcomed the decision from the BCCI to confirm the participation of defending champions India. “The hundreds of millions of cricket fans around the world just want to see good cricket and now we can all look forward to a superb event in England and Wales starting on June 1,” an ICC official said.
The SGM completely toed the COA instruction of sending the team and not serving any notice to global body, which has nearly halved the BCCI’s revenue share and cut down on its executive powers by revamping the controversial “Big Three” administrative structure. It was a setback for the ousted N Srinivasan faction which was keen to take an aggressive stand. Srinivasan, in fact, joined the discussions via Skype to air his views but didn’t take a confrontational stand.
“The outcome of the meeting has been positive. India will participate in the Champions Trophy. There is no pulling out. Tomorrow the squad will be sent to the ICC. The honorary Secretary (Amitabh Chaudhary) has been authorised to renegotiate with ICC as far as the financial model is concerned. There will be no binding on him,” IPL governing council member Rajeev Shukla told reporters after the meeting.
COA head Vinod Rai said he had already informed the players that they were going for the event starting June 1 in England. “Of course I am relieved that they are playing Champions Trophy. But players always knew they were going. I had spoken personally to Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli that you guys are playing Champions Trophy. I have always said that USD 100 million more is okay,” Rai said.
The proposed ‘Dalmiya model’
“India can make up the money by playing bilateral series. They get Rs 45 crore for playing a single match at home,” he added after dropping in to attend IPL GC meeting. While it is being perceived as a climbdown but Amitabh Chaudhary has made it clear that participation in the Champions Trophy doesn’t mean concerns are not there.
“BCCI reserves all legal options against the ICC. Playing in the Champions Trophy does not mean we agree with the ICC Revenue and governance model. Not only revenue share but governance structure is also an issue,” Chaudhary said.
However, the former Jharkhand top cop agreed that negotiations should continue. “The negotiation process will be an ongoing one before the ICC Annual Conference in June. Other members I spoke to during the April round of meetings are also keen on amicably resolving the matter,” Chaudhary said.
“The SGM is unanimous on one aspect. Our position as the predominant cricket country shouldn’t be diminished. Most ICC members empathise with India. Now renegotiation is a sensitive issue. I wouldn’t like to comment on any figures,” he said.
It was learnt that when the discussion on whether to send a notice to ICC took place, one of the West Zone unit officials apprised that if Members Participation Agreement is invoked, one needs to give a 30-day notice period to cure the breach but India’s first match against Pakistan on June 4 is before the stipulated time.
The BCCI General body also discussed late former president Jagmohan Dalmiya’s proposed model to make up for the notional loss due to the reduced revenue share from the ICC. The ICC is ready to pay an additional $100 million to the already earmarked $293 million. But it is still a massive cut from the $573 million that the BCCI was getting earlier.
“The Champions League T20 used to be held in September. Now the whole window is available to BCCI. Dalmiya had then proposed that every September we play a bilateral series at home — Tests or limited-overs matches. The costs would be covered from broadcasters money,” a state unit official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
He further explained how a projected loss of Rs 1000 Crore could be covered in the next five years. “Right now BCCI gets Rs 43 crore approximately for playing one international match (Tests/ODIs/T20s). If every September, we play even a short series — say three ODIs and two T20Is — you end up making Rs 215 crore from broadcast deal.
“Multiply it by five years and you get Rs 1075 crore. Why fight with ICC when we can ourselves generate revenue?” the official said.
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