BCCI, International Cricket Council Are on Same Page, Says Anurag Thakur

Refuting claims that the Board of Control for Cricket in India and ICC were not on the same page vis-a-vis conduct of the World Twenty20 Championship in March-April next, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said the Board was looking forward towards hosting a successful tournament. (N. Srinivasan Removed as International Cricket Council Chairman, BCCI President Shashank Manohar to Fill in)

"There is no such difference between the BCCI and the ICC. We have to work very closely because the BCCI has entered into a host agreement with the ICC to host the Twenty20 World Cup.

"So, whatever decision is taken by the ICC it has to be implemented on ground with the BCCI as host country. So there is no such difference. We are just looking forward to a successful T20 World Cup," said Thakur after the BCCI's 86th Annual General Meeting.

He also said that the tournament would be conducted in eight centres. (Board of Control for Cricket in India AGM: Ravi Shastri Out of IPL Panel, Sourav Ganguly is in, 10 Developments)

"In the Barbados meeting of ICC it was decided to have eight centres. So the fixtures would be ready and announced by the ICC soon. The details will be cleared by the ICC and we will be meeting them soon," he said.

BCCI president Shashank Manohar said, "It will take its time," when asked about the World 20 draw. (Board of Control for Cricket in India Drops Ravi Shastri from IPL Panel, Roger Binny as Selector)

On revival of matches against the West Indies, after the latter was forced to cancel its visit to India last year due to players' unrest, Manohar said there was still a lot of time to decide on the issue.

"There is still plenty of time to go and play in West Indies. We will decide at the appropriate time. They met us recently... the CEO of the West Indies Board and the chairman of the West Indies Board. They have given their viewpoint. We will take a call," said the BCCI chief.

Asked about former captain Saurav Ganguly's presence in the BCCI posts and his TV commentary duties, Manohar said that as far as there was no commercial interest in the Board there was no problem. (Advisory Panel Comprising Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly May Be Scrapped Today)

"He is not doing commentary but he can pursue whatever profession he wants. The conflict would arise if he has a commercial interest in the Board because we can't stop him from pursuing his profession. I am a lawyer and I can't be told I should not practice, what can be told to me I should not appear in Board cases."

Both Manohar and Thakur remained mum and smiled for a while when asked whether there were deliberations on Anil Kumble's conflict of interest, before the latter said "Yes," without elaborating what the conflict of interest was.

Kumble is no longer the chairman of the technical committee and has been replaced by Ganguly.