Senior cricket Board members will hold a teleconference in the next day or two in a bid to end the impasse over who should represent India at the International Cricket Council's (ICC) annual conference at Lord's from June 25-27.
With N Srinivasan stepping aside as BCCI president till the inquiry against son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings team principal, Gurunath Meiyappan, is completed, interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya was expected to attend the meeting.
However, insiders claim that Srinivasan has put his foot down and wants to attend the meeting himself, splitting BCCI into two factions.
“He (Srinivasan) seems interested in attending the meeting as he believes the ICC annual conference deals with cricketing issues and not about the recent spot-fixing scandal that has dealt a severe blow to Indian cricket,” said a top BCCI official.
“He has represented the BCCI in previous meetings and believes he should be given a go ahead this time too for the sake of continuity,” he added.
Trouble potential However, BCCI officials are worried it will blow up into another controversy and affect the board's attempt to clean up the game.
{{/usCountry}}Trouble potential However, BCCI officials are worried it will blow up into another controversy and affect the board's attempt to clean up the game.
{{/usCountry}}“We are going to have a discussion via teleconference soon to reach a consensus on the issue. All the key members will take part to make sure a unanimous decision is taken,” said the official.
The meeting, though, is hardly a solution to the problem with a faction in the BCCI backing the beleaguered president. “Srinivasan has been part of such meetings in the past. He has taken a firm stand against the Decision Review System (DRS), so logically he should be given a chance to continue his fight against the proposal,” said another BCCI official.
The ICC meeting is of importance as the governing body is mulling a proposal to implement DRS across the board. If Srinivasan does not attend the meeting, it would be interesting to see what stance BCCI takes.
Dalmiya was guarded when asked about his views on DRS. “The BCCI currently has a stand on DRS, so it will be unfair on my part to make any comment till I have a detailed look at the relevant documents,” he said.(with agency inputs)