The attitude of the Delhi government regarding the now cancelled felicitation of former India cricketers was such that the BCCI top brass had instructed skipper Virat Kohli to stay away from the function in case it would have taken place on Saturday.
It was also learnt that BCCI had turned down a similar request from Royal Challengers Bangalore during the second Test match when they wanted to felicitate AB de Villiers for playing his 100th Test match. The reason was same that “a third party cannot have a function in FOP (Field of Play) during a Test match.
“Virat is a contracted player by the BCCI. He was clearly instructed that he should stay away from the function if it would have at all taken place. In the midst of the match, an Indian captain cannot be allowed to take part in the felicitation of a third party,” a senior BCCI official privy to the development told PTI.
The BCCI officials were unhappy that the state government was under the impression that the event of felicitation would be covered live.