New Delhi: It is once more Shashank Manohar versus the BCCI. The ICC has not been taking a decision regarding the T20 World Cup later in the year. Livid with that, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has accused outgoing chairman Shashank Manohar. The BCCI has said that he is deliberately dragging his feet on the issue.
Cricket Australia’s (CA) chairman Earl Eddings has said his board’s inability to host the global event October 18-November 15. The BCCI feels that the ICC’s ‘delaying tactic’ could severely hurt IPL preparations.
Interesting questions
“Why is the outgoing ICC chairman (Manohar) creating confusion? If CA doesn’t want to conduct T20 World Cup, why will ICC take a month to announce the decision? Is he trying to hold BCCI to ransom?” a senior BCCI official told this agency Wednesday.
The ICC, after a board meeting earlier this month, decided to wait another month and explore more contingency plans. It said it will take some time before taking a call on the event in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The BCCI official said that a quick decision on postponement would also help member nations plan their bilateral engagements. “It’s just not about the BCCI or the IPL. If ICC announces the postponement during this month it will help. Member nations whose players are not a part of IPL can plan their bilateral series in that window. The delay in decision-making will hurt everybody,” he fumed.
Beneficial for IPL
A quick decision by the ICC will ensure that BCCI’s (IPL) operations team can start preparing the likely hosts. Sri Lanka is slated to be one of the IPL hosts this year. It has earmarked three grounds — Premadasa, Pallekele and Hambantota.
Sri Lanka is being seen as more cost effective compared to the UAE. Also Sunil Gavaskar has said that it’s the ideal country to have a September IPL.
Frosty relations
The BCCI vs Manohar feud is not new. The Nagpur-based lawyer has a frosty relationship with another former BCCI president N Srinivasan. That is how tensions between the BCCI and ICC started.
“He (Manohar) has been a former BCCI president, who worked against our interest. BCCI’s revenue share was reduced despite the country contributing to ICC’s revenue,” the official said.
Another BCCI veteran, who has seen Manohar operate in BCCI for years, has a question for the ICC chairman. “Why do you thrive in confusion? I want to ask Mr Manohar. The current situation is only increasing the confusion, creating a number of dilemmas,” he said.
Nomination of next chairman
There is another question that BCCI mandarins are asking. It is why the process of nomination for the next chairman has not been officially announced.
“There have been a couple of ICC board meetings. However, things like e-mail leaks and investigation gained precedence over announcement of nomination process. I will never be sure till Manohar relinquishes the chairman’s post and not seek a third term,” the veteran official said.
It should be stated here that an ICC chairman can have three terms of two years each. An ICC board member fears that delay in nomination process could come in the way of making a unanimous choice.
“Colin Graves is still the front-runner and if Sourav Ganguly is not interested, he will also have BCCI’s backing. In case of Ganguly, it will be interesting if he will throw his hat in the ring,” said the board member.