Confusion reigned over the future of the ongoing West Indies tour of India with conflicting statements being issued by the two boards. While the BCCI shocked everyone by putting out a statement that the WICB had called off the tour and even announced a replacement tour, the West Indies board later denied taking any such decision. The WICB said it would make a further statement after the conclusion of the fourth ODI in Dharamsala.
The development followed a prolonged payment structure dispute between the players, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players Association (WIPA).
The BCCI said it was "shocked and disappointed" at the decision and that Sri lanka had agreed in principle to play a five-match ODI series against India between November 1 and 15 to fill in the void left by the West Indies.
The Announcement
"The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has informed the BCCI of its decision to cancel the rest of its ongoing tour to India because of a dispute with its players, and has advised the BCCI that its players will return home immediately," Sanjay Patel, BCCI secretary, said in the press statement.
"The BCCI is shocked and extremely disappointed at the decision taken by the WICB. The WICB's inability to resolve internal issues with its players and allowing the same to affect an ongoing bilateral series does not reflect well on any of those involved. The withdrawal gives little thought to the future of the game, the players and the long standing relations between the BCCI and the WICB," the statement further stated.
"The BCCI wishes to inform all its stakeholders, especially ardent fans of the Indian cricket team, that this is a unilateral decision taken by the WICB and its players, in spite of several appeals to the WICB to honour its commitment and complete the series.
"The BCCI will pursue all options available to protect its rights, whilst seeking appropriate action from the ICC to ensure that its interests and those of the game at large will not suffer any damage due to such acts of indiscretion," Patel added.
The denial
However a few of hours later, the WICB issued a statement saying it had not taken a decision to end the tour. "The West Indies Cricket Board advises, that, contrary to media reports, it has taken no decision to discontinue the ongoing tour to India," it said.
"The WICB will make a further statement following the conclusion of the fourth one-day International which is in progress."
The ongoing payment structure dispute had almost led to the cancellation of the fourth ODI as well as the team refused to leave the hotel. It was only after the intervention of a senior BCCI official, the players agreed to play the match.
Even at the ground, there were enough signs that all wasn't well. The whole West Indies team, unusually, stood behind their captain Dwayne Bravo at the time of the toss. Bravo said the team was playing only because they didn't want to make the game of cricket and its fans suffer.
"As you can see, my team is standing behind me," Bravo said at the toss. "It's been a tough tour for us. We don't want cricket to suffer. We enjoy our fans in India and our fans back home. That's the reason we represent the West Indies team, but there comes a time when we have to make a decision as a team, things are not going our way. We try our best, we do everything in our powers, and yet to come to an agreement we need to have a contract, or something might happen."
The ISSUe
The tour had been going on in the shadows of a pull out since the first ODI in Kochi when Bravo, on the eve of the match, warned of a pull out if WIPA president and CEO Wavell Hinds didn't cooperate with the players and respond to the queries related to the contract and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) he had signed with the WICB allegedly without players' consent.
Bravo, who is acting as the player representing, had also asked Hinds to resign from his dual posts and requested WICB to not communicate with the WIPA until the issue is resolved. However, WICB president Dave Cameron cited the MoU signed in September and said the board would only engage with the WIPA.
The biggest bone of contention between the players and WIPA is sponsorship payment that Hinds claimed all the West Indies players had agreed to forego towards improving the pay structure of 90 regional first-class cricketers. It would result in the Caribbean players' pay go down by approximately 75 per cent and another 25 per cent participation fee for playing in various ICC tournaments was also cut to zero.
The contracts were given to the players after they reached India.
Bravo and his team-mates insisted that they want the old structure back as the new one is "significantly different from what we received in the past."
legal action
According to a report, the BCCI has called an emergent working committee meeting in Hyderabad on October 21 to discuss the consequences of West Indies' decision to pull out of the tour. The working committee will decide on whether the BCCI will take legal action against the WICB.
"We have referred the matter to our legal cell and asked them to let us know by the 21st about how we can pursue the issue legally," BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told ESPNcricinfo. "They have entered into a bilateral agreement with us, and they have abandoned the tour due to their internal issues, so we will have to seek compensation. But depending on the legal advice, the working committee will decide the future course of action."
The working committee, in consultation with the tour, programme and fixtures committee, will also decide the itinerary of the series against Sri lanka. It remains to be seen if all the five venues that were supposed to host the remaining games in the series against West Indies — Kolkata, Cuttack, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad — will be allotted a match each in the alternate series.