Miffed at the "hostile" statements from Sri Lanka Cricket officials against Indian Premier League, the BCCI has decided to put on hold India's all future bilateral series against Sri Lanka. - PTI
According to news reports from the Press Trust of India the BCCI has decided to 'put a hold' on future tours involving the two nations. The decision apparently stems from what Lalit Modi and Niranjan Shah deem as 'damaging statements' made by SLC officials towards the IPL and Arjuna Ranatunga's 'attitude' towards the IPL.
"Mr Modi and Mr (Niranjan) Shah were very puzzled and shocked at the attitude of Sri Lankan cricket towards the BCCI and had serious concerns with regards to some of the press statements which had been released by some SLC officials," - PTI
It has now come to a state where one cannot express any dislike towards the Indian cricket board or it's IPL tournament without serious repercussions. This is not the first time India has threatened to boycott or call off tours if it did not get it's way. Earlier this year the BCCI threatened to call off it's on going tour in Australia if Harbhajan Singh was found guilty of racially abusing Andrew Symonds. Click here to read The Sydney Morning Herald's piece titled 'Cricket's Day of Shame'.
WORLD cricket authorities have caved in to the game's financial superpower, India, and Cricket Australia has incurred the wrath of its own Test players by pressuring them to drop a racial slur charge against Harbhajan Singh.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India had even chartered a plane to take its players home tomorrow if the Indian player's three-Test suspension - for calling Australia's Andrew Symonds a monkey during the Sydney Test - had not been overturned at yesterday's appeal in the Federal Court in Adelaide.
Cricket Australia was anxious to have the charge dropped because it feared its board would be sued for a figure understood to be about $60 million if India quit the tour. - SMH
It could be argued that as chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket Ranatunga was duty bound to agree upon and sign the deal with the ECB. With SLC running on it's bank over draft it would have been ridiculous for Ranatunga to turn down such an offer for the IPL tournament. The player's representation in the IPL did not benefit Sri Lankan Cricket or it's governing authority financially.
I previously mentioned that the IPL's stance was one of International Cricket first and IPL second. This reaction from the BCCI and the IPL has put an end to that perspective. Ranatunga's comments may have been detrimental to the image of the IPL and BCCI but the actions of the BCCI's hierarchy has caused damage to more than just their image.
By Hilal
8 Comments:
Well I always said that it would come to this. Be prepared people, this is just the tip of the iceburg.
IPL never was, and never will be for the good of the cricket - it was always about how to make more money and how to kick ICL out. We will see more and more of the same with time. Such a shame...
This is all about bringing back Thilanga, the politically correct, business thinking, smart, with the BCCI, man. BCCI is now like the Mafia (in cricket) and in order to extend their ideology and control to other markets, they need reliable partners they have done business with before and Thilanga, actually is a part of the Modi-Pawar team from his days on top. He identified how big they were commercially long before most. They work as a team to date, even outside cricket. However, not that easy to remove Ranatunga as only the president can do it and he is widely expected to let Arjuna remain the full term assured when in exchange Arjuna agreed to vote for the president's budget '07. For god sake who is thinking about cricket at this point. Test, 20/20, six-a-side, no matter the form of the game, from player to the people running it, the core values of the game has become money and who is in charge it. Only we the fans care about the game and its future and even we, probably will change if we were a part of the setup cause the money is so big.
Discussions on BCCI-SLC deal still on - officials
The fate of the US$70 million deal between the BCCI and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has become a matter of intense speculation; however, official negotiators from both sides continue to insist the ten-year arrangement is very much in place and is currently in the “discussion stage”. Indian board officials said the deal is not a bailout package from the BCCI or IPL for Sri Lanka but part of a "revenue-sharing arrangement" offered by the Champions Twenty20 League to all participating nations.
A series of news reports from Sri Lanka over the last week suggested top Indian officials told the Sri Lankan delegation during a meeting in Bangkok that they would not move forward on the deal as long as Arjuna Ranatunga was in charge of SLC. However, Indian officials associated with the discussions said no such statement was made, at least during official discussions.
Neither board was willing to officially comment on the matter. Duleep Mendis, the SLC chief executive, told Cricinfo the issue was being handled by the sports ministry while Niranjan Shah, the IPL vice-chairman, said details of the deal were only a matter of speculation.
Graeme Labrooy, secretary of the Sri Lanka Cricketers' Association, which played a vital role in negotiating the package, said the deal was still on though some “technical issues” needed to be sorted out. “A US$70m offer over a ten-year period cannot be finalised at one meeting,” Labrooy said. “We need to look at the international cricket calendar and see what windows are open to us to fit in our programmes. There are some technical issues that we need to look into before finalising such a deal.”
A senior Indian official agreed with Labrooy’s assessment, but gave a completely different twist to the deal. “The common misconception has been that this is a bailout package from the BCCI for Sri Lanka cricket, or the IPL,” the official said. “But that’s simply not true.
“Australia and South Africa, which are sending two teams for the Champions League, are likely to get amounts in the region of $150m and $120m for ten years, from the $975m that the tournament is worth,” the official said. “Now Sri Lanka has been invited to take part from next year, and will send one team and hence gets a lesser amount. There will be similar deals with all participating countries, be it England, West Indies or Pakistan.” The official described the Bangkok meeting as “normal” and added that “nothing was said against any Lankan official during the official negotiations.”
The BCCI holds a 50% share in the tournament, which is expected to feature a Sri Lankan domestic team from next year. However, sources in Sri Lanka insisted that the Indian officials expressed disappointment at the “attitude” of Ranatunga, who had described the Twenty20 cricket as “instant noodles” and later attributed India’s defeat during a recent Test series in Sri Lanka to a Twenty20 overdose. The Indian officials told the Lankan delegation in Bangkok the “deal is out because we understand that your chairman is trying to take the credit for it”, the sources said. The BCCI was also irked by Ranatunga’s comment during the recent ICC meeting in Dubai that the deal was an “endeavour to buy over Sri Lanka cricket”, the sources said.
Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, Niranjan Shah and N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, are understood to have conveyed these views in Bangkok last Sunday to the Lankan delegation that comprised S Liyanagama, the Sports Minister’s secretary, Duleep Mendis, Sidath Wettimuny, SLC’s interim committee member, and Labrooy.
Liyanagama is expected to convey the results of this meeting to Gamini Lokuge, Sri Lanka’s sports minister, who had initiated discussions on this deal with the Indian board.
Ajay Shankar is deputy editor of Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
Sri Lanka Cricket denies IPL approval
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=5&theme=&usrsess=1&id=228612
The little known unsavoury side of Lalit Modi
http://www.island.lk/2008/10/28/sports1.html
BCCI denies putting series with SLC on hold
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/BCCI-denies-putting-series-with-SLC-on-hold/378266
You have some very good points Hilal but we should play our cards well with India. SLC don't even have money to repair light system at Dambulla ground,so money is also needed for the bankrupted SLC. Arjuna has proved that he is not suitable to this post,I am telling this not regarding this england tour but even club cricket and school cricket are in a mess @ da moment.
Terms are no big issues Damith but the "Mafia" was first discussed here so pls don't take undue credit cause you took it from here n made your own thing 4-5 days later. Focus on writing about good cricket old fellow & forget trying to be funny, famous & last but not least, talking about heads, a shrink. Take material from here if you are not original enough & make your own thing, no issues, but, don't come back asking for credit telling us its yours (wink, wink). Contribute than promote your self if you are a part of this blog mate.
Sorry, I thought we were referring to something else. I take back what I said earlier crediting me.
I was invited by Hilal to be a writer here.
If he does not have an issue with what I write then I could careless what you think.
Hilal edits my posts before they are published here so if you have an issue with whats put up here pls do take it up with him.
What I write and how I write it is my prerogative.
Tough luck if you dont like it mate.
Cheers.
referring to something else ? like what ? lol. this is not about you and me hee. it is wise to direct your frustration towards problems - not people, to focus your energies on answers - not excuses, cause, he who excuses himself accuses himself. boruwatath kalawak tiyanava sahodaraya, when you master it, you become an original like me (wink wink).
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