Is BCCI answerable under the RTI Act?

It seems the Sports Ministry now considers Board of Control for Cricket in India answerable under the Right to Information Act as it has transferred such an application to the cricket body.

The Central Information Commission in number of recent decisions on sports federations had declared them to be public authority covered under the RTI Act, but in 2008 Information Commissioner Padma Balasubramanian had exempted BCCI from the ambit of transparency law through her order.

The latest order of the Sports Ministry, however, cites the October 26, 2010 decision of the Kerala High Court which declared officials of Kerala Cricket Association as public servants. The appeal against the High Court order was dismissed by the Supreme Court this year.

"The High Court of Kerala in a case related to State Cricket Association, has ruled that the Federations are required to perform public duties by virtue of holding their offices and hence, are public servants.

"The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with the ruling of the High Court," Joint Secretary Injeti Srinivas at the Ministry said in a reply to an RTI application seeking to know whether Supreme Court has held BCCI officials as public-servants.

Responding to the application, Srinivas who is the Appellate Authority at the Ministry "directed" the Public Information officer "to transfer the application to BCCI for response to the specific queries pertaining to them."

Activist Subhash Agrawal had sought to know from the Sports Ministry nature of assistance received by the BCCI from it, constitution of BCCI and its affiliated state-bodies, outline of BCCI budget for last two years, details of pending allegations of corruption etc against officials of BCCI.

He had also demanded information on money paid separately to each of players, coaches, selectors and members of board of BCCI in last two years, assets and awards given players, coaches and others by BCCI.

In addition, Agrawal also asked if BCCI had ever given some grant or loan to Constitution Club, New Delhi besides amount, date and purpose of such funds among other details of such financial help.

© PTI

BCCI to blame for lack of quality spinners: Maninder

The spinning cupboard in India is quite bare at the moment.[© AFP]

Former Test cricketer Maninder Singh held the BCCI responsible for the lack of quality spin bowlers in the country.

"BCCI lacks a professional approach in running its National Cricket Academy (NCA) and for that it has failed to produce a single quality spin bowler so far. Every year 15 to 20 budding talents are selected for the NCA but no one has been polished properly to click," Maninder told reporters.

Former pace bowler B Arun had been selected as coach for spinners in the Academy while the likes of Erapalli Prasanna, Bishan Singh Bedi, B S Chandrashekhar and S Venkatraghavan had not been approached, rued Maninder after attending a spin clinic of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association.

"Such an approach has made the NCA a laughing stock", he said, claiming BCCI did not like bold people.

Talking about the snub given to the Pakistani cricketers by the Indian Premier League franchises, Maninder said, "It is an open to the world that relation between the two countries is not cordial. If no franchisee came out to buy the Pakistani players due to security reasons, it was justified.

"Personally I am sad to miss the Pakistani cricketers in IPL but a marriage cannot be solemnized when the guardians of two families have not agreed," he quipped.

Maninder criticised the IPL ban on Ravindra Jadeja and said "Jadeja is a genuine all-rounder. Instead of encouraging him, he is being demoralised."

BCCI, PCB in touch to revive cricket ties

Karachi: Cricket boards of India and Pakistan are in touch to discuss resumption of bilateral cricket ties in the near future at neutral venues. Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board told PTI that a BCCI official had spoken to PCB this week and some discussion revolved around the possibility of revival of bilateral cricket ties between the two countries.

"The PCB is very keen to push this idea forward as a series against India will improve its financial health considerably and also allow it to meet its commitments with the broadcasters who are paying a lot of money for the television rights of Pakistan cricket," one source said.

The source also confirmed that Pakistan was keen to convince the Indians to resume bilateral ties by even agreeing to play a short series of one or two one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match at some neutral venue.

"The ice can be broken with a short series which can happen if the Indian Government gives the go ahead to its board," one source said. He said they were some positive signals coming from BCCI which had also assured the PCB that it was keen to see Pakistani players in the Indian Premier League next year.

The PCB has already given clearance to all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and some other players to sign up with IPL franchises. India suspended bilateral ties early this year after the Mumbai terror attacks by calling off a scheduled Test tour in January that cost PCB USD 25-30 million.

'BCCI should've a word with Dhoni and Bhajji'

Aggrieved and annoyed former cricketers have criticised Harbhajan Singh and MS Dhoni for missing the Padma awards ceremony. The overwhelming feeling
is that they have let the country down.

Some reactions:

Bishan Singh Bedi, former India captain: It's an unpardonable offence. The general practice is that the home ministry sends out letter asking the recipients if they are willing to accept the award or not and accordingly they are shortlisted.

In this case, I am sure both Dhoni and Harbhajan agreed to accept the award and so their names figured in the list. Later on, they behaved as if nothing happened.

They disgraced one of the highest honours. You can't buy this with money, especially since some Olympic medal winners have been a deprived lot when it comes to such recognitions.

It's really shameful. BCCI should have a word with the cricketers. Surprisingly, there is no word from BCCI either.

Maninder Singh, former Indian spinner: It's indeed very unfortunate and sad that these boys didn't attend the function. Harbhajan treated the whole issue as if it was a big joke by saying that next time he would be available two days in advance.

It's BCCI's responsibilty to educate these players. They should see how someone like Sachin Tendulkar behaves and learn from him. A great cricketer has to lead a life after cricket and money is not everything.

I feel BCCI should be a little more pro-active when it comes to such issues.

Ashok Malhotra, former India batsman: It seems commercial aspect have become more important for these players. You can't be so highhanded. Both Harbhajan and Dhoni have let the cricketing community down.

Arun Lal, former India batsman: I don't know the exact story from the cricketers' side but whatever has happened is not good for the game.

Source: TOI

ICL talks fail

JOHANNESBURG: Talks to resolve the dispute between Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Indian Cricket League failed to reach an agreement, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday.

David Morgan, President, ICC, who brokered the three-hour long talks, said that “sadly no agreement was reached.”

He said the application by the ICL to be recognised by the ICC will be referred to the council’s Board meeting in April in Dubai. — AP

Parmar has suspect bowling action - BCCI

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian off-spinner and test prospect Mohnish Parmar, who has a similar bowling style to Sri Lankan spinning great Muttiah Muralitharan, must rectify his action to correct flaws, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said.

Parmar, 20, emerged as the most successful in Indian first-class cricket this season with a tally of 52 wickets from just 11 matches.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sent him to Australia last month to get his action reviewed and based on the report has directed him to undergo rehabilitation before returning to competitive cricket.

"I'll have to correct my action, else I won't be allowed to bowl," the player told the Times of India newspaper on Wednesday.

Employing a similar bowling action to the supple-wristed Muralitharan, the world's highest wicket-taker who has courted controversy throughout his career, helped Parmar initially.

He imparts a lot of spin on the ball and bowls the doosra effectively, foxing Australia test opener Simon Katich during last year's 'A' series game in Bangalore.

"One tends to put more revolution on the ball with an action like that, you also derive better bounce," former test batsman Aunshuman Gaekwad, who was Parmar's state coach, told Reuters.

The legality of Muralitharan's action was questioned until it was put down to hyper-extention of his elbow caused by a physical deformity and he was ruled not to be violating the rules.

"He (Parmar) always bowled with that action and has been very, very effective," Gujarat state association official Hitesh Patel said.

BCCI lends hand to help revive Zimbabwe BCCI lends hand to help revive Zimbabwe

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian cricket board will throw open two tournaments and its national academy to Zimbabwe to help revive the beleaguered African team.

Officials agreed to extend the helping hand after a meeting with Zimbabwe Cricket Union chairman Peter Chingoka on Friday, said a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) statement.

"The meeting was to discuss the role the BCCI can play in the redevelopment of Zimbabwe cricket in the years to come," the Indian board said on Saturday.

A Zimbabwe President's XI will now enter the Deodhar Trophy one-day series in March and next year's Duleep Trophy first-class tournament.

The BCCI has also decided to extend the facilities at the academy for the training of players from Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe cricket has lurched from one crisis to another in the last few years.

The national team has not played a test match since January 2006 following a series of confrontations between senior players and the administration that left the side depleted.

Last March an independent audit also found serious irregularities in the Zimbabwe board accounts. The International Cricket Council (ICC) did not call for sanctions after deciding there was no evidence of criminality and no individuals gained financially.

An ICC task force formed to help Zimbabwe return to the test fold will submit a report to the ruling body's board meeting in Perth next week.

That panel was appointed last July when Zimbabwe agreed to skip this year's Twenty20 World Cup in England to end a deadlock over demands for its suspension from international cricket because of Robert Mugabe's government.

Zimbabwe lost a one-day series to Bangladesh 2-1 on Friday.