CoA rejects request for Afghanistan players in Indian domestic cricket

But the Committee of Administrators, in its latest meeting, rejected the request, saying that “it will not be possible for BCCI to include players from Afghanistan in the domestic matches/tournaments organised by BCCI.” However, the Indian Board has allowed Afghan players to be included in its camps and training programmes.

The decision comes soon after BCCI shot down the ACB’s plea to allow the Afghanistan Premier League, which was held in Sharjah last year, to be staged in India, as the country has its own twenty20 franchise competition every summer. BCCI, however, agreed to look into Afghanistan’s request for an alternate venue for their international matches. They have been hosting teams at Dehradun and Greater Noida, but have communicated to the Indian Board that they find the two venues inconvenient. The CoA discussed that any alternate venue shouldn’t hamper BCCI’s own scheduled domestic matches. Lucknow is the venue most likely to be offered to the Afghanistan team.

No overseas match for MI

Four-time Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians wanted to take the team to the United States to play some matches. But the CoA has turned down the request. Several MI players such as Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are Team India regulars and the BCCI can’t afford the risk of injury that may make them unavailable for national duty. Also, getting the team’s foreign players for the American trip may be tricky as other national team’s will have their own commitments.

Commentators’ fees

The CoA approved the recommendation to revise the fees of the commentators contracted with the BCCI after they were told that the same had not been done for a long time. These commentators speak on television during India’s home matches and the various domestic tournaments.

Payments to Azhar

Former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has missed out on BCCI’s one-time payment, part of the benevolent fund and pension due to the life ban imposed for his alleged involvement in match-fixing. But the ban was set aside by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The matter of the money due to Azhar had earlier been referred by the CoA to the appropriate authority of the Board and a decision is likely after the BCCI election scheduled later this year. Lieutenant-General Ravi Thodge was not a member of the CoA then, and the committee decided that the entire facts of the case be presented again for discussion at a subsequent meeting.

Khanna’s staff to be paid

The CoA decided that all employees who worked for the IPL ticket distribution should be made per diem payment for 55 days. The decision was prompted by the request made by the office of acting president CK Khanna for payment of per diem to a member of his staff for the work done in relation to distribution of IPL tickets.

Hirwani with women’s team

Former India international and National Cricket Academy spin coach Narendra Hirwani is set to work as a consultant with the country’s women’s team. Hirwani, who played 17 Tests and 18 ODIs for India, is likely to travel with the team on select assignments starting with the home series against South Africa in September. India’s T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur had recently expressed the need for a spin bowling coach considering the team is full of tweakers, including Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht and Deepti Sharma.

Amount released to DDCA

The CoA decided that an amount equal to that paid by the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) to its vendors towards installation of air conditioner and upgradation of high mast lights be paid to the state body. The money will be released after verification of all documents and on the understanding that the said amount shall be deducted from the amount due from the Board’s side to the state associations.

The DDCA had requested for the funds saying it had already paid the vendors.