With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) deciding to pursue the relaxation in conflict of interest (COI) clause for involvement of former cricketers in administrative and technical capacity, it has resulted in the 88th Annual General Meeting (AGM) deferring the appointment of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC).
The delay in appointing CAC will mean the fate of the senior national selection panel will continue to hang in the balance at least for a few more days.
“The conflict clause stops everyone; A to Z it stops everyone. It has got former cricketers and former administrators also.
“That is why we can’t make the CAC, we can’t make proper selectors,” said BCCI president Sourav Ganguly after chairing the first BCCI AGM in three years.
Going back to court
“We are going back to the court for all these clarifications because some of these I don’t know where we will finish. The conflict issue stops us from everything, to get good people and keep them for longer and to stop them from doing other things is very difficult.”
The stringent conflict of interest clause inserted in the BCCI rulebook forced by the Apex Court resulted in all three members of the then high-profile CAC — including Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar — resigning.
Their successors, who were acting on an interim basis, also tendered their resignations recently, with Kapil Dev, Aunshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy stepping down from their post.
Even the Committee of Administrators in its last status report had recommended to the Supreme Court relaxation in the conflict clause.
Fate uncertain
The delay in CAC’s appointment will mean the fate of M.S.K. Prasad’s selection committee remains uncertain. Prasad and Gagan Khoda have served four years as selectors, while the other three — Sarandeep Singh, Jatin Paranjape and Devang Gandhi — have been in the role for three years.
According to the revised rules, no individual can be a selector for more than five years.
