The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) might have decided to rest regular skipper Virat Kohli for the ongoing Asia Cup to manage his workload, but the move saw the host broadcaster — Star — write to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) as they felt that India have not fielded their best team for the biggest tournament in Asia. Clearing the board’s position, CEO Rahul Johri put his foot down and told the ACC that the broadcaster cannot decide or dictate selection policies.
Replying to a mail sent by ACC official Thusith Perera, accessed by Hindustan Times, Johri said: “Kindly note that the team selected by BCCI selection committee (an expert body comprising of former cricketers) to participate in the Asia Cup as announced on 1 September 2018 is the best available team.
“Please also take note that selection of the best available team for participation in a tournament is the sole prerogative of the selection committee of BCCI. It is not open for Asian Cricket Council or its broadcaster to insist on selection of any particular player and/or to question the expert opinion of the selection committee as to which is the best available team for a particular tournament. Needless to add, this email is being issued without prejudice to BCCI’s rights and contentions in law, all of which are expressly reserved.”
Earlier, in a mail accessed by Hindustan Times, Star had written to Perera citing the failure of the ACC to honour the agreement which said that the council would ensure that best available teams should form the part of the Asia Cup.
“We would like to bring to your notice that our media rights agreement dated June 29, 2017 (the “MRA”) with the Asian Cricket Council (the “ACC”) requires that the ACC ensures that the best available teams from each of the participating nations including India should form a part of the Asia Cup. Virat Kohli has been the most prolific run scorer in world cricket in the recent past. His presence in the Indian team and his aggressive captaincy has a dramatic impact on the outcome of each event.
“In our view, this announcement about the absence of one of the world’s best batsmen from this edition of the Asia Cup, only 15 days before the commencement of the Asia Cup, is a serious dent to us (the event broadcaster) and will severely impact our ability to monetize and generate revenues from the tournament,” Star wrote to ACC official Perera.
Speaking during the announcement of the Indian team for the Asia Cup, chief selector MSK Prasad had said that Kohli was being rested to manage his workload. “Considering the workload, we have given him (Kohli) rest. He has been playing continuously for quite some time. He’s on the road from the IPL. So that is why looking at the workload we have given him rest,” Prasad had said.
First Published: Sep 16, 2018 18:09 IST
Source: HindustanTimes