India might just have a brand new bank, one called the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Arjuna Ranatunga, cash-strapped Sri Lankan cricket’s new chief, has said he was banking on the BCCI to bail them out, possibly through off-shore series or even "short-term loans".
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary Kangatharan Mathivanan told HT he had contacted BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi on the issue and had received positive feedback. A senior BCCI official said the Lankans had reportedly met BCCI chief Sharad Pawar on January 17. "We are trying to work out how exactly we can help them. After all, they are our neighbours. An off-shore series is also an option,” said the official.
Time for India to rebuild its muscle-flexing image and play the friendly neighbour?
But playing financier isn’t new to the BCCI. It had announced the formation of a corpus to support Indian Olympic sport in April 2006. And as of now, though the fund has been set aside, a proper system for the allotment of funds in still awaited.
“We had written to all national sports federations and asked them to recommend an expert who would be part of a special committee to verify credentials of sportspersons applying for the scholarship,” said BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty. “But not many associations responded."
{{/usCountry}}“We had written to all national sports federations and asked them to recommend an expert who would be part of a special committee to verify credentials of sportspersons applying for the scholarship,” said BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty. “But not many associations responded."
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