Decision on Zimbabwe tour in two days: Jagmohan Dalmiya
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will take a final decision on the Zimbabwe tour in the next couple of days. BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya informed on Friday.
“There have been several issues. We will have another round of discussion with the Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) officials tomorrow and accordingly will take a final decision in the next two days,” Dalmiya told The Indian Express. This is the first time that a top BCCI office bearer has officially spoken on the subject.
Dalmiya didn’t elaborate on the “issues” but it has been learnt that the matter related to the broadcasting rights hasn’t been fully resolved yet. This is despite the fact that the official website of Zimbabwe Cricket has already published the tour itinerary.
As per the ZC schedule, India would be playing three ODIs and two T20 internationals in Harare, starting July 10.
Though, there’s no official word from the cricket board, the BCCI has decided to field a second-string squad in case the issue is resolved.
A few top players reportedly have already informed the Board about their non-availability for the Zimbabwe assignment. India have been playing non-stop over the past 11-odd months and the players looked fatigued during their 2-1 ODI series loss in Bangladesh.
The BCCI had initially decided to call off the tour over the broadcasting issue. With Ten Sports, a part of the Subhash Chandra owned conglomerate Essel Group, being the host broadcaster for ZC, the Indian cricket board saw red. BCCI and Chandra have fallen out badly of late.
This follows the latter’s efforts to launch a breakaway league to upset the existing world order. Also, Dalmiya doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the Indian business magnet, their acrimony dating back to early 2004.
Eleven years ago, with Dalmiya at the helm, BCCI had scrapped the bidding process in which the Chandra-owned Zee Telefilms emerged as the highest bidder for the broadcast rights to the matches played in India between 2004 and 2008. A bitter legal fight ensued.
Resigning to fate
Even ZC officials were resigned to the fact that the Indian team won’t be touring Zimbabwe this time around. They even considered postponement.
“If the matters take too long to resolve, ZC and the BCCI might mutually agree to push the tour to next year,” ZC chairman Wilson Manase had said in a press statement.
For a cricket board whose liabilities exceed its assets by close to $10 million, the cancellation would have meant disaster. They had earned something in the range of $8 million when India had toured Zimbabwe two years ago.
So the ZC top brass tried to work out a solution on the sidelines of the ICC Annual Conference in Barbados, where they had several discussions with Thakur. Both parties seem to have made some considerable progress.
