League bowls BCCI a beamer in court

On the day Subhash Chandra, the chairman of Essel Group and the man behind the Indian Cricket League (ICL), declared that he has nothing personal against Indian cricket board president Sharad Pawar, a legal battle erupted.

The ICL on Friday went to the Delhi High Court, seeking to restrain the BCCI from “intimidating” its players and interfering in its affairs. Questioning the BCCI’s sanctity to run Indian cricket, it urged that the board be restrained from using the Indian flag and the name of the country as it had accepted before the Supreme Court that it is a private, autonomous body.

The suit also urged the High Court to direct the BCCI to let the ICL use stadia across the country for its tournaments. The BCCI, on its part, gave a guarded response. Chief Administrator Officer Ratnakar Shetty said, “We will formulate our plan of action once we get the notice.”