Board of Control for Cricket in India President Anurag Thakur once again lashed out at the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha pommittee and its reforms, stating that the current situation is “not in the best interest of cricketers”. Thakur also hit back at the Indian board’s critics.
Despite registering an excellent 4-0 win in the five-match Test series against England, the BCCI was unable to hand out bonuses to Virat Kohli’s men after the Supreme Court took control of the disbursement of cash from the board. The BCCI was also stopped from releasing money to the state cricket associations until they abided by the Lodha committee recommendations,
“We know the current situation is not in the best interest of cricketers but the matter is sub-judice. We are in problem and we need to wait till January 3. We have a lot of money but we can’t spend it. We need permission for it,” Thakur was quoted as saying by PTI.
Thakur also addressed some of the criticism that has come in the way of the members of the board during the ongoing tug-of-war. “The BCCI has created its own infrastructure without taking a single penny from the government. Yet, some former cricketers, not all, speak against us,” Thakur said.
The 42-year-old was in trouble earlier in the week as the apex court accused him of perjury and gave the BCCI a week to recruit new administrators. The International Cricket Council, who didn’t include India in their working group, also came in for some sharp criticism. “I was there at the meeting and every member felt that for a stronger cricket world, one needs [the] BCCI. If anyone thinks that they can work without BCCI, they should know global cricket needs BCCI,” Thakur added.
Thakur also demanded a probe into Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli’s exclusion from the ICC Test XI for 2016, which sparked off an outrage on social media. “ICC should look into the matter as India is [the] No.1 Test team. But I am happy that [Ravichandran] Ashwin has been adjudged Test Cricketer of the Year,” Thakur said.