Focus back on India’s SA tour

With a two-member committee of judges virtually handing the cricket control board-and its chief N. Srinivasan a clean chit on charges of match-fixing during IPL-6, it is very much on the cards that no action is likely on another clash of interest issue, involving India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the company that manages him.

Speaking after the BCCI’s working committee meeting in Kolkata on Sunday, stand-in president Jagmohan Dalmiya reiterated, “I had said nothing will be swept under the carpet. Many were asking what happened to that.
“We have changed our mode of working. We don’t believe you to be after any player or anybody. Therefore, the players will have to declare their interest in sports management companies,” the former board strongman added.
Even as the police in Delhi are gearing up to file a chargesheet in the IPL spot-fixing scandal, the report compiled by former High Court Judges T. Jayaram Chouta and R. Balasubramanian appeared to suggest that allegations against team managements in the case of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were had no substance.
A final call on the report however, will come at Friday’s meeting here after disciplinary committee member Arun Jaitley goes through it and briefs the IPL governing council and the working committee.
As this all but sets the stage for the return of the temporarily exiled Srinivasan, it also raises the likelihood of India’s tour of South Africa being curtailed, following the appointment of Haroon Lorgat as chief executive of Cricket SA.
The Indian cricket establishment is not enamoured with Lorgat especially after his stint as the head of the International Cricket Council where he backed the Decision Review System, and had made known its unhappiness at his expected elevation.
Dalmiya however, stalled a query on this matter too, saying, “It is under process. There are other tours also (of New Zealand). We will come to you in due time,” he said in Kolkata.
As per an announcement from CSA, India were to play three Test matches, seven one-dayers and two T20 games, but the BCCI has said it will present a revised schedule that lops off one Test and a couple of ODIs from the itinerary.
This is bound to be a financial blow to the host board given India’s current one day status and resurgent Test ranking.