England series will be held without a hitch, says Lodha committee

January 12, 2017 01:19 am | Updated 01:47 am IST - NEW DELHI:

The India-England limited-overs series will not be disrupted. This was the firm assurance from the Justice Lodha panel which met here on Wednesday.

Amidst the confusion following the Supreme Court order and to address the rumours doing the rounds, the panel has decided to put things in perspective by answering the questions from various BCCI-affiliated units.

FAQs

“We have addressed various queries from various associations. We are going to answer them as FAQs,” Justice Lodha told The Hindu .

The most important item on the agenda was to set the process for the smooth conduct of the India-England series, and the subsequent international matches this season.

“The Board CEO (Rahul Johri) will be the person who will take the decisions in this regard. We want to assure that cricket will not be affected at all,” added Justice Lodha. “We discussed the issue with the Board CEO and directed him to ensure a smooth conduct of the series.”

Johri and the Board’s general manager for cricket operations, M.V. Sridhar, have been entrusted with the task of handling the India-England series. “We don’t want to handle day-to-day affairs,” insisted Justice Lodha.

This is in the wake of the confusion around the National selection committee meeting in Mumbai on January 6 when the disqualified Board joint-secretary Amitabh Choudhary wanted to act as the convenor.

The situation was clarified following a communication from the Lodha panel secretary, Gopal Sankarnarayanan, who informed Johri that Choudhary was no longer a Board official.

The Lodha panel, which had originally recommended a three-member selection committee, had given permission for five selectors to pick the India team for the series against England.

The committee includes Test cricketers M.S.K. Prasad, Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi and non-Test players Gagan Khoda and Jatin Paranjpe.

“It was a one-off allowance,” emphasised Justice Lodha. “We had made the qualification norm for the selection committee clear in our recommendations. The committee can comprise only three Test players, and that will be the criteria,” Justice Lodha confirmed.

The Board’s units are to soon feel the heat on financial matters. The Deloitte audit reports on various associations have been critical of their functioning, and the Lodha panel is expected to deal with the findings firmly.

The Supreme Court-appointed committee — senior advocates Gopal Subramaniam and Anil Divan — will chart the road map for the future course.

It is learnt that any effort to disrupt cricket activities will not be tolerated.

The panel was obviously irked by the moves to prevent the Cricket Club of India from hosting England’s warm-up matches against India-A at the Brabourne Stadium, and rumours regarding the unwillingness of the Hyderabad Cricket Association to host the Test against Bangladesh in February.

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has already pulled out of hosting two matches against England under-19.

As Justice Lodha said, “the Supreme Court order is self-operative and not time bound. The process may take time but the Board CEO knows his role clearly now.”

The associations have to finalise their working on the basis of the broad norms given to them.

The assurance from the Lodha Panel should convince cricket fans that they can expect a well-conducted series under the guidance of Johri and Sridhar, who have been apprised of their roles.

Among those following the action on the field with interest is Justice Lodha.

“I saw a bit of the India-A warm-up match, and am looking forward to the series (against England),” he said.

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