The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : ‘ICL’s longevity remains to be seen’

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Thursday, Aug 23, 2007
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‘ICL’s longevity remains to be seen’

Bangalore: Gundappa Viswanath said on Wednesday that the longevity of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) was something that ‘remains to be seen.’

“The ICL is a parallel body to the BCCI and, yes it is certainly a confrontation for now and it remains to be seen how long they can sustain themselves. The Board has made it clear that anyone associated with the ICL would be debarred,” Viswanath said.

The former India captain, who is also the KSCA vice-president and chairman of the KSCA Academy, spoke on the sidelines of a press conference that unveiled the KSCA ruling body’s campaign for the association elections scheduled to be held on September 9.

Meanwhile the former National Cricket Academy (NCA) director and current KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel said that the present stand-off could have been avoided if the ICL managers had held an initial round of talks with the BCCI.

“If the ICL had sat down with the BCCI and discussed its plans, made the Board part of the tournament, promised funds and sought a prior approval, it could well have been a win-win situation for both parties but unfortunately the ICL went ahead and formed a parallel body and as for Kapil Dev’s removal (as chairman of the NCA), well the Board has already made it clear to all the State associations including us that any player or official associated with the ICL will be debarred. All this could have been avoided if only the ICL had spoken to the BCCI before it went ahead with its plans for a parallel body,” Brijesh Patel said.

Brijesh Patel also added that off-spin legend E.A.S. Prasanna who has joined the ICL would have to debarred from participating in the KSCA’s coaching programmes.

“I do feel sorry for him but then he has made a choice and this is the decision that the BCCI has taken,” Brijesh said. — Principal Correspondent

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