New Delhi: The central contracts of the Indian cricketers were finally cleared by the BCCI at the special general meeting (SGM) here Friday, ending a period of uncertainty ahead of their long tour of the UK.
The Supreme Court-appointed committee of administrators (CoA) had announced the revised players’ contracts March 7 but BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary had refused to sign them and had said it needed the general body’s approval which came through in the meeting attended by representatives of 28 state associations.
Notably, Friday’s SGM did not have the required go ahead from the COA. “Despite doubts, the SGM has taken place. All resolutions have been passed by the general body unanimously,” said Chaudhary.
The general body also approved the proposed increase in the salary of domestic cricketers, including women.
On the upcoming domestic season, it has been decided that new teams including the north eastern states, Uttarakhand and Bihar will be playing against each other in the Plate division. The top two teams from it will then face the bottom two sides across Groups A, B and C and the best two will advance to the Elite division in the following season.
“Irrespective of any meeting, Uttarakhand will play in the Ranji trophy this season. The Supreme Court wanted us to look into the matter and we have only done that by creating a consensus committee in the state for a period of one year,” CoA chief Vinod Rai told this agency in response to the board’s decision.
Asked about the worsening relations between the CoA and the BCCI officials, Chaudhary said: “The dynamics between the elected BCCI officials and CoA are governed only by laws. There is no role for emotions here. We will continue to work under COA’s supervision.”
Johri blamed
New Delhi: BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary blamed CEO Rahul Johri for the board’s non-objection to the ICC’s decision of converting the 2021 Champions Trophy into a World T20 Championships. “People are talking about how I didn’t put in an objection at the ICC board meeting. But let me tell you the decision to replace CT with World T20 was taken at the chief executives meet,” Chaudhary told reporters Friday. “There was another Indian who was representing,” Chaudhary said without naming Johri.