The Board of Control for Cricket in India is set to issue showcause notices to a bunch of Indian players for their alleged involvement in an altercation in a St. Lucia nightclub hours after their exit from the World T20 Championships last Tuesday.
“The BCCI president has asked the secretary to issue the showcause notice tomorrow (Tuesday),” board chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said.
The action comes after India’s tour manager at the ICC event, Ranjib Biswal, submitted his report to the board on Monday in which he is believed to have indicted six players for errant behaviour.
“Biswal met the (Board of Control for Cricket in India) president and secretary and had a discussion on the tour and the report he submitted,” Shetty said.
“He gave information about the incident to both. The board also probed the incident on its own. After considering all the information gathered, the president has decided to issue a showcause notice to the concerned players.”
A board source told this newspaper that the report had also named two more players besides the six, but advocated milder punishment for the two.
The incident occurred following India’s loss to Sri Lanka in the Super Eight stage and consequent elimination from the tournament, when a group of players got into an argument with some Indian fans at a local pub. It is believed that the situation escalated from there.
The notices must be replied to within 15 days and are said to be solely based on that particular incident.
Board secretary N. Srinivasan, who is expected to issue the notices on Tuesday, denied knowledge of the incident on the day. “I’m not aware of any showcause notices being issued in my name. This is completely untrue.”