Sandeep Patil’s agreeing to coach a team in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) may have sent the BCCI top honchos into such a frenzy that it has started taking a serious view of players attaching themselves with the ‘rival’ league. But it is the BCCI which has to take the blame for pushing the super coach to the wall.

Patil, who became the third former India cricketer after Kapil Dev and Kiran More to join the ICL, said: “BCCI left me with no option but to accept the offer.”

Blaming the BCCI squarely, Patil added: “I am a coach and I need work. I wrote to BCCI 16 months back offering my services, but there was no response from it. The board didn’t even mention my name during its search for a new coach or cricket manager. I met Sharad Pawar personally and he assured me that my services would be very much required.

“Even four months back, Pawar spoke to Niranjan Shah (secretary) and Ratnakar Shetty (CAO) in front of me and told them to give me some responsibility. But till this day, I haven’t heard anything. What am I supposed to do? Sit and wait another 16 months?”

The hard-hitting middle-order batsman, who played a crucial role in the 1983 World Cup winning team said that he needed to find some body and the board didn’t give any. “When ICL offered me the job, I had to choose between sitting idle and going to work. I am shocked that the board should have any reservations.”

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