The BCCI’s all-powerful Working Committee will meet here on Tuesday to decide on whether to impose a freeze on future West Indies tour and claim damages for the Caribbean team’s pull out of the India tour because of the pay dispute with the Board.
Before the Working Committee assembles, the governing council of the Indian Premier league (IPl) will have a meeting where the issue of West Indies players’ participation in future editions of the cash-rich league could also come up for discussion.
The Working Committee will debate on the exact course of action and the amount of compensation to be claimed from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for abandoning the tour of India mid-way.
The aggrieved Caribbean players, who were persuaded to take the field for the fourth ODI in Dharamsala on October 17, conveyed their decision to call off the remaining part of tour to the BCCI.
Some top Board members are of the view that a stern message should be sent to WICB for aborting the tour and creating a huge problem for the BCCI.
These BCCI officials not only want a ban on future series against the West Indies but also a bar on the participation of the Caribbean players in the IPl.
However, that is not a view shared by a majority of the members who feel that the players are not fault and should not be punished. “We have suffered huge losses due to the decision of the West Indies to pull out of the tour. We are going to claim all the damages and pursue the matter with ICC,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel had said.
“The working committee members will have dialogue on this and after that we may consider to not pursue further Future Tour Programmes (FTP) with the West Indies,” Patel had said.
Hours after the West Indies pulled out of the tour, the BCCI approached the Sri lanka Cricket (SlC) and quickly cobbled up a five-match ODI series to be played from November 1 to 14.
The West Indies players were adamant to withdraw their service since they were unhappy with the new contracts, offered to them after landing in India.
As per the new contracts, agreed between the WICB and the Players Association (WIPA), the cricketers reportedly suffered a 75 per cent cut in their salaries.
Troubled WIndies continue hunt for Head Coach
St Johns (Antigua): West Indies might be in neck deep trouble after their team’s pull out of the India series, but that hasn’t stopped its board from reviewing coaching applications for the senior team as the post is lying vacant after Ottis Gibson’s departure in August.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) website has put up job advertisements for Head Coach, Assistant Coach, Team Director and various other office posts, for which, incoming resumes are being continuously scanned.
Team manager Richie Richardson, who soon took over the interim duties after Gibson decided to part ways post a four-year stay with the Caribbean side, is keen to take over the job on a full-time basis.
“I’ve always said I would never say no when I am asked to do a job for West Indies cricket. I love West Indies cricket that much, so whatever I am asked to do I will say yes,” Richardson had said before the India tour started. But things took a turn for the worse, as the pay dispute between the WICB, players association (WIPA) and the Dwayne Bravo-led side escalated to an extent that the maroon brigade aborted the India tour after the fourth ODI in Dharamsala, leaving BCCI in the cold.
With an ODI in Kolkata, one-off T20 and three Tests remaining to be played, the Indian board had to call Sri lanka to fill the void and is mulling a legal action against the West Indies to claim damages, running into hundred of crores.
So as the WICB searches for a new coach, it foremost agenda will still be to resolve the pay dispute and get the national team back on the field.