BCCI call for emergency meeting, to review West Indies players' participation in IPL
New Delhi: The BCCI is seriously contemplating reviewing the West Indies players’ participation in the cash-rich Indian Premier League as the ongoing series ended abruptly on Friday due to visiting team’s payment dispute with their own cricket board.
So miffed are the BCCI officials with the attitude of the Caribbean players that some harsh actions can’t be ruled out as far as their playing in IPL is concerned.
“The matter is likely be raised at IPL governing council meeting where the issue will come up for serious discussions.
Some of the members of board’s top brass want to ban the Windies players for atleast one season,” a senior BCCI functionary told PTI on Friday.
“For the likes of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, IPL has been a primary source of income and the perks that they have got in India for their star status. The love that Indian public bestowed on them is unimaginable and this is pure backstabbing by their players,” the official added.
What BCCI officials are finding it difficult to digest is that even after their assurances to Sanjay Patel, who went to Kochi to persuade them, things have come to such a pass.
How could they backtrack on their promise? This is a matter of principles. If they can give commercial considerations priority then why won’t they be penalised for their uncompromising attitude,” the senior official said.
While BCCI will have to take the franchises into consideration as two of the most high-profile franchises Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have high-profile West Indians.
Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith are key players of CSK while Kieron Pollard is an influential player in MI ranks. Not to forget Sunil Narine and above everyone else Chris Gayle.
A question mark is certainly there on Caribbean players’ participation in IPL-8.
BCCI calls emergency meeting on October 21:
Shocked at the sudden pull out of the West Indies team from the India tour, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) swung into action on Friday by calling an emergency working committee meeting on October 21 in Hyderabad to discuss the issue.
"Yes, we have called an emergency meeting in Hyderabad on the 21st to discuss the West Indies issue and see what we can do about it," BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla told PTI.
The Dwayne Bravo-led side decide to abruptly end the ongoing series after playing the fourth ODI, leaving the Indian board and fans high and dry as the fifth ODI, a one-off-T20 and 3 Tests were also in the itinerary.
Though Sri Lankan Cricket has agreed to play a five-match ODI series and fill in the void left by the West Indies but the BCCI is really miffed with the attitude of the Caribbean players that some hard actions can't be ruled out as far as their playing in IPL is concerned.
"The matter is likely to be raised at IPL governing council meeting where the issue will come up for serious discussions. Some of the members of board's top brass want to ban the Windies players for atleast one season," said a senior BCCI official.
Also it remains to be seen whether the five venues that were supposed to host the remaining games in the series against West Indies - Kolkata, Cuttack, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad - will be allotted a match each in the alternate series.
