Pawar, however, shifted the onus of the settling of demands issue to the working committee of the Board, saying it was the right forum for such a discussion and that it was the right body to take such a decision. “Rajiv Shukla and I are here, but we cannot take this decision. It has to go to the working committee,” Pawar had said.

Pawar, however, did not once indicate that the Board could back down on its strict guidelines and gag orders on selectors and officials—certain sections of which Vengsarkar has vehemently objected to. On the issue of Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar’s columns, Pawar said: “They are with the NCA and the coaches selection committee and do not fall within the ambit of the Code.”

Another important issue plaguing Vengsarkar at the moment is that he is irked with the way certain board officials — “who haven’t even played the game at any decent level” — are telling him how to conduct himself. “Who are they to tell me whether I should be entering the dressing room or not,” he asks.