ICL flays BCCI, war of words escalates

The ICL slams the board's stand, saying it's a private organisation and has no right to issue life ban on players.

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) on Saturday hit back at the Indian cricket board (BCCI) for threatening to impose a life ban on players aligining with the rebel body, saying the BCCI was a private organisation and had no right to issue such directions.

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A day after BCCI made it clear that players taking part in the breakaway league would be banned for life from playing for India, the ICL bosses reacted strongly to the "unfair" stand taken by the game's governing body and said it would not dissuade them from going ahead with the venture.

"BCCI is nobody to give such a direction. It is a private body. The ICL will be a reality and the people will come to watch the matches," Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra told PTI.

The ICL, a brainchild of the Essel Group, also said the hard stand taken by the BCCI was "very shallow" and would only "scare" the players.

Kapil Dev, Chairman of the ICL's Executive Board, also launched a scathing attack on the BCCI and took a dig at president Sharad Pawar by questioning his commitment to cricket.

"He (Pawar) is a very senior politician. He is spending time looking after an important ministry and country but does he have the time for cricket? I can also say about him what he said about me," Kapil said.

"I am disappointed. They are trying to scare players when people of the country want to play cricket. It is not fair for the BCCI secretary (Niranjan Shah) to say like that," he said.