Team to raise funds for other sports

Indian cricket team will play a match every year to raise around Rs 45 crore to promote other games in the country.

"It is not only cricket the BCCI is worried about. It will spend Rs 50 crore every year on training country's top ranking junior player of any individual game played in Olympics," BCCI president Sharad Pawar told reporters on Sunday.

Whether the selected athlete's training is within the country or outside, BCCI will bear the cost, Pawar said adding "the Indian cricket team will play a match every year and raise around $8.5 billion or Rs 45 crore to promote other games."

The decision was taken by the Finance Committee of the cricket board on Saturday and efforts were on to make necessary amendments in BCCI's constitution to effect it, he added.

To a query, the BCCI president said the selected player should have emerged as country's top ranking junior player in individual games like boxing, swimming, athletics and wrestling.

"It is not good for the country that we are not winning gold in Olympics, Pawar said adding "cricket has got people's cooperation and Board's finances are improving. It is appropriate time for the board to assist other games."

"May be, if we spend five-seven years continuously and utilise expertise of world class coaches to prepare the players, we might get a gold in Olympics," he added.

First Published: Apr 30, 2006 18:53 IST