The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : No interfering in selection: Pawar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006

Sport

Sport - Cricket

No interfering in selection: Pawar

Kolkata : Terming the decision to exclude Sourav Ganguly from the ODI squad in Pakistan as ``unanimous,'' BCCI president Sharad Pawar on Monday declined to interfere in the selection process for a possible recall of the left hander.

``When the selection committee took the decision, they conveyed it to me. It was a unanimous decision.... I don't want to interfere in the selection process,'' Pawar told reporters here.

Stating that the selection committee wanted to keep the winning combination of the ODI squad intact after India's impressive performances against Sri Lanka and South Africa, Pawar said it had nothing to do with any personal equation between Ganguly and others.

``We respect our coach (Greg Chappell), our selection committee and captain (Rahul Dravid). I have discussed the matter in-depth with Sourav, Chappell and others. There is nothing personal in it,'' he said when asked if Ganguly's spat with the coach had cost him a place in the national squad.

Pawar described Ganguly's 34-run knock in the ongoing Karachi Test as 'satisfactory', but parried a query if his showing made the player worthy of a recall in the ODI team.

The board chief also said he had apprised the International Cricket Council of some ``practical problems'' in organising the Champions' Trophy matches in Delhi and Mumbai.

Pawar, who held discussions with ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed in Delhi last week, said, "there are some practical problems in organising the matches in Delhi and Mumbai. We discussed the issues with him and hope these will be sorted out.''

While asserting that India wanted to organise the Champions Trophy later this year, Pawar said "we had some detailed discussion on the venues — Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai.''

The problem, he said, was that under the ICC rules a venue for the Champions Trophy needed to be freed from any other commitment or contract to enable the sponsors earn maximum revenue.

While there was no problem with Kolkata, in Delhi there were a number of corporates having seat allocations at the stadium.

Pawar said Delhi had contracts with corporate houses which had been supporting them for long. Similarly Tatas had a significant contribution in Mumbai. "These are contractual obligations and have to be maintained,'' he said.

Besides, hosting nine matches in one month in Mumbai, as was decided, would be a tough proposition and the "wickets will also not survive,'' Pawar said, but hoped that the problems would be sorted out. — PTI

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail