“All these big tournaments are conducted by the state associations and were approved by the board. The ICL has applied for a first time permission but they don’t follow our terms and conditions,” he clarifies.

Giving details he adds, “There are three main conditions. Proper state sides cannot be invited to these tournaments. No foreign players can participate, and every application has to be routed through a state association.”

With the ICL not planning to involve state sides, the first condition isn’t a problem for Zee Telefilms. Applying to the state unit too isn’t an obstacle since that would just mean changing the address on the application form. But it is the foreign players clause that is seen as the official reason for the ICL not getting the tagline: “under the aegis of the BCCI”.

But this argument isn’t watertight since in the past foreign players have played in BCCI affiliated tournaments. It was New Zealand A that won the Buchi Babu tournament in 2001 and in 1974-75 Hindustan Breweries played the Moin-ud-Dowla Trophy with imports like Rohan Kanhai, William Anderson Bourne, Anura Tennekoon, Duleep Mendis.

It is only on the condition of anonymity that BCCI officials give the real reason for this distance from the ICL. “How can we give recognition to a group that will sting us in the future. Today they will conduct a tournament under our umbrella but once they get a foothold, they can be ambitious. They will grow and try to overhaul us. This is not an open sky policy where anyone can float their product. The government of India has authorised us to run cricket in India, we will not allow any one else to clash with our long term interests,” says a senior BCCI functionary.

... contd.