BCCI suffers losses, may claim damages from WICB

A livid BCCI has said it has suffered huge losses and that it will claim all the damages following the West Indies cricket team’s unprecedented move to pull out of the remainder of India tour in the wake of an acrimonious unresolved pay dispute with its board back home.

The aggrieved Caribbean players, who were persuaded to take the field for the fourth ODI in Dharamsala on Friday, conveyed their decision to call off the remaining part of tour to the BCCI, which is now contemplating legal action against the visitors.

“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. We have convened an emergent working committee meeting to discuss the issue as well as the visit, at short notice, by Sri Lanka,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told PTI from Baroda.

The cricket board has convened an emergent meeting of its all-powerful working committee in Hyderabad on October 21 to discuss the aftermath of the controversial pull-out.

“The working committee members will have dialogue on this and after that we may consider to not pursue further FTP programmes with West Indies.”

Patel said he was busy from morning till midnight yesterday in view of the sudden “unprecedented” move by the West Indies to abandon the tour after playing, with reluctance, the fourth and penultimate ODI in Dharamsala.

“I had a very hectic time and this was an unprecedented decision. We will discuss all these at the working committee.

There will be a governing council meeting of IPL preceding the WC meeting,” he added.

Patel had said in a statement on Friday: “The BCCI would like to clarify that despite all its efforts, the India vs West Indies ODI series has been curtailed because of the ongoing issue between WICB and its players, and the withdrawal of the WI team from the ongoing tour of India.”

Patel had also provided a timeline of the controversy-hit tour from the time the West Indies reached Kochi to play the first ODI till Friday when the BCCI received a communication from team manger Richie Richardson informing the former that the visitors will not play any more scheduled matches on the tour after yesterday’s ODI.

Patel also said that Sri Lanka will play the ODIs between November 1 and 14 and that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was also willing to send its team.

“We had already contacted the Sri Lanka board who had accepted the invitation on short notice. But they have to go back home for their next series against England,” said Patel.