Indian board to meet on Bangladesh tour

India's national cricket body BCCI is likely to go for an emergency meeting within a week to consider the situation ahead of Team India's impending Bangladesh tour in June.

India Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 2 April 2015, 04:12 AM
Updated : 2 April 2015, 09:36 AM

A top official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said AHM Mustafa Kamal's tirade against Narayanaswami Srinivasan is perhaps forcing the Indian board to meet and discuss the situation.

On condition of anonymity, he said Srinivasan's supporters in the BCCI are trying to force the emergency meeting.

"They may try to push BCCI to cancel the June tour of Bangladesh because Srinivasan is BCCI's representative in ICC and Kamal's tirade against him, they may argue, is now a national issue," he said.

"But Srinivasan has large number of opponents in the BCCI who will stoutly oppose such plans, arguing that Kamal's tirade against Srinivasan is a personal issue and BCCI cannot afford to create a diplomatic row," the BCCI official said.

He said that if BCCI cancelled the tour of Bangladesh, Kamal will surely get his government to take up the issue with Delhi.

The Modi government surely will not like to cancel the cricket tour for fear of adverse impact on bilateral relations at a time when they are at their best.

"Some of Srinivasan's opponents may actually like the BCCI to do something silly so that the issue boils over and the Modi government comes down hard on the BCCI and forces it to oust Srinivasan," said another BCCI official, again on condition of anonymity.

Some ministers of Modi government are connected to BCCI and none of them belong to the Srinivasan camp. His opponents are trying to rope in these ministers and get him out of BCCI.

Kamal has made it clear in a Dhaka press conference that his fight is against Srinivasan and not against the Indian board.

After all, India played a major role in getting Bangladesh its Test playing status, so it would be indeed ironic if it were to cancel its June 2015 tour of Bangladesh, when two Tests and three ODI matches are likely to be played.

Kamal has described Srinivasan as "mentally deranged" and upset pro-Srinivasan supporters want to cancel the Bangladesh trip to seek revenge.

But anti-Srinivasan supporters in BCCI say that India can ill afford to cancel its tour of Bangladesh when Pakistan have finalised its summer tour of Bangladesh.

Foreign policy analysts here say this will become a huge diplomatic issue if that happens.

They say the Modi government will be very upset with the BCCI if they cancelled their tour at a time when Modi himself is planning to visit Dhaka this summer after the parliament clears the land boundary agreement and his government inches closer to a possible deal on Teesta water sharing.

Srinivasan's opponents in BCCI say it is time the board got rid of a man, barred by India's Supreme Court from contesting BCCI polls again, from representing India in ICC.

"He is a national disaster," said one Bengal cricket official who has represented the state board in BCCI for years.

But BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya has refused any comment, saying he first needs to discuss the whole situation and all issues involved with his board members.