BCCI secretary and GM at loggerheads

New Delhi:BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has criticised GM Cricket Operations Saba Karim and the SC-appointed Committee of Administrators for deciding to relax the one-year rule for wards of government employees to be considered local players in the middle of the season.
In a letters, the secretary has made it clear that a sudden change of rule after the start of the season without keeping the technical committee of the board or the member associations of the BCCI is not only unfair but also against the process followed over the years. The technical committee is currently headed by former India skipper Sourav Ganguly.

“As things stand today, a new rule, fundamentally changing eligibility conditions for BCCI tournaments, is being sought to be put into effect midway through the season without approval either of the Technical Committee or any of the member associations of the Board. I thought that at least post facto approval could have been obtained in the last ten days after we had exchanged the following emails. I am not sure whether this has been done. In my view, this so called rule cannot be put into effect without requisite approvals,” the secretary wrote.

In his earlier mail, he had also raised concerns after Karim gave him a briefing on why the BCCI had suddenly decided to change the rules for outstation players when it comes to wards of government employees.

“As an ex-Test cricketer yourself, you are probably aware the now changed eligibility rules have been in existence for a very long time. You are also aware that these rules have always been vetted by the Technical Committee which have been headed by the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly. Obviously therefore these rules should have remained firm until the best cricketing brains had examined them. Besides, where was the compulsion to do it well after the season had begun, specially because on these rules depend the plans of participating associations. As far as my memory goes this is unprecedented.

“And then why should departure be made only for government servants? Are they a special class of Indian citizens? If so, I need to be educated for I had been one myself for as long as nearly three decades. According to the argument advanced it seems only they cannot determine their postings as if others, working in companies and multinationals, decide their places and dates of postings,” the secretary explained.

“Clearly, the basis of such change is without any merit.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)