NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India has appointed a two-member committee to look into the players' contracts issue and find a plausible solution. The issue has been defused for the time being — till the team returns from the tour of Bangladesh.

Messrs N. Srinivasan, the BCCI Treasurer, and Shashank Manohar, one of the BCCI vice-presidents, form the committee, which is expected to thrash out the matter with the players.

"We have taken the decision in the interest of cricket. With the Bangladesh tour a few days away, the focus has to be on doing well on the field. These matters can always be settled amicably," said Board spokesman Rajiv Shukla.

No confrontation

Mr. Shukla denied there was any confrontation with the players. "There is nothing of this sort. We don't want to get into any confrontation with the players," he said at the end of a meeting held at Board president Sharad Pawar's residence here.

The Board had taken a hard stance following the team's poor show at the World Cup. The contracts of all players were cancelled and a new mode of remuneration was introduced with an emphasis on performance-oriented payment. The move did not go down well with the players and there was unison when the entire team, presently undergoing a conditioning camp at Kolkata, refused to sign the contracts.

Pawar intervenes

Even as the Board contemplated desperate measures to get the players to fall in line, it was learnt that Mr. Pawar, not quite happy with the developments over the last week, intervened to stop matters from going out of hand.

The meeting on Saturday was held at the behest of Mr. Pawar who was keen that the matter be resolved at the earliest without letting it affect the morale of the players. Even as the team prepared skipper Rahul Dravid to make a strong representation, the Board relented and allowed the players more time to sign the contracts. The team leaves for Bangladesh on May 7 and returns on May 30.

At the meeting, it was also decided that the decision on the new coach would be taken in the third week of May. Following Greg Chappell's refusal to renew his contract, Ravi Shastri has accepted the job only for the Bangladesh tour.

In another development, all the state association affiliated to the BCCI would now be entrusted the responsibility of handling women's cricket too.

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