Slice of BCCI pie for all, cap only for players

Mumbai, April 9 : As the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) kitty swelling every day, they haven’t forgotten those who missed out on the Cricket boom. At the end of the working committee meeting here today, the former players were promised a slice of pie with a hike in their pension amount.

And showing that the support to Indian cricket’s senior citizens wasn’t just confined to providing them financial security, BCCI president Sharad Pawar acted swiftly upon former skipper Sunil Gavaskar’s complaint about the national team’s support staff sporting the India caps.

So, as Ian Frazer’s days of wearing the India cap seem to be over, the committee also decided to extend the existing pension scheme, which covered those who played before 1975, to include those who represented India in Tests till December 31, 1993. Pawar informed that those ‘‘those who have played in 25 Tests or more would be eligible for Rs. 35,000 per month each while those who played in less than 25 Tests would be eligible for Rs. 25,000.’’

The decision comes in the wake of BCCI’s new regime’s view of keeping the former players — specially those who played for India in the 80s and 90s and just missed out on the monetary benefits of the modern game — in the fold. Just last month the BCCI had brought together former players like Kapil Dev, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Srinivas Venkatraghavan and Navjot Singh Sidhu on the same platform through a meeting of the Optimum Utilisation of Resources Committee (OURC). Besides, many of these players are at important positions in BCCI various other committees.

And just to prove that the opinion of these former stalwarts matters, the BCCI has set a criteria on wearing the India cap. The matter was raised by Gavaskar in several of his columns after Frazer was seen wearing the India colours during the Pakistan tour. The legendary batsmen after consultation with several present and former international cricketers had written to the BCCI president and asked him to look into the matter. The BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said that the committee resolved that from now, ‘‘only the playing members of the team would be wearing the cap with the crest.’’

Meanwhile, the issue of the reported business nexus between the national selector Kiran More and coach Greg Chappell got an official burial. Sources at the meeting said, ‘‘It was not on the agenda so there was no question of it being discussed. But some days back, More has been conveyed the message to keep a low profile.’’

Pawar will decide on Dalmiya

President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been authorised to take a decision on former chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, who has been accused of siphoning off funds from the 1996 World Cup. Pawar, while addressing the media, said that the matter was discussed during the working committee meeting and it had been decided to leave the issue at the discretion of the president. Asked about reports of fresh charges against Dalmiya, Pawar said ‘‘the matter is subjudice, so I cannot comment.’’

BCCI to pay Rs 90 lakh for fourth venue

The BCCI has agreed to pay around US$200,000 (approx. 90 lakh) to ICC in exchange for increasing the staging centres of this year’s champions trophy from three to four. Matches will now be held at four centres — Cricket Club of India (CCI) Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Mohali. The money matters are in the final stages of acceptance, along with other minor issues are cleared for staging the tournament. The board had turned down ICC’s demand for payment of US$ 1 million and got it scaled down to around US$200,000.

TRDW and new BCCI stadium plans

The special committee headed by former chief I.S. Bindra will give suggestions about optimum usage of the board’s funds and recommendations on the Talent Research Development Wing (TRDW). A special committee headed by vice president Chirayu Amin and comprising Arun Jaitley of the DDCA, Lalit modi, Bindra and MCA president Ajay Shirke had been formed to come up with proposals to develop the 30 acres land given by the DDA to the board.

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