No official invite was sent to Team India for ICC function: BCCI

Under attack from former cricketers for the Indian team skipping the ICC Annual Awards function, the BCCI on Monday sought to set the record straight on the reason behind the team's absence from the function in London last week.

"The ICC sent couple of invites to Mr Sashank Manohar and myself. We were both busy so we couldn't attend. No specific invitation was sent to Team India. Well, there were enquiries from ICC but I presume you needed to send a formal invitation," was new BCCI President N Srinivasan's terse reply.

"Ideally, it should have been Mr Dhoni and his team are invited for the function, but nothing of that sort happened. It was on 11th before their final day in London, an ICC official came and told them about the function next day. By that time most of the players had made plans," he said.

The Indian team gave the ICC Annual Awards function a miss despite being in London, drawing sharp criticism from all quarters. The ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat even went to the extent of terming the act "disappointing and shame as lot of people expected the Indian players to be present."

Interestingly, the England players who had two major award winners in Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook were present at the glittering ceremony.