It is unlikely that Gary Kirsten will ever voice his views against the Indian Premier League again. The reason could be that the India coach has got a warning from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
According to sources in London, the coach was told not to speak openly against the IPL, the blue riband event of the BCCI. The Board’s displeasure was conveyed to the coach in London before the Indian team left for the West Indies.
The top officials, including president Shashank Manohar and secretary N Srinivasan are currently in England. They were staying in the same hotel in London where the Indian team stayed. One official informed DNA that both the president and the secretary met the coach and told him in no uncertain terms that his comments were uncalled for. If the official is to be believed, the coach was, in fact, strongly ‘warned.’
A day after India were knocked out of the World Twenty20, Kirsten had blamed it squarely on the IPL saying that the standard of cricket in the league was poor and that the team management had lost touch with the players during the league.
He even hinted that he might ask some players to pull out of next year’s IPL which precedes the World T20. “The bottomline was the amount of cricket that was being played and the amount of niggles that came into this tournament. Maybe we need to consider pulling out players…” Kirsten had said.
Srinivasan refused to say anything on the issue. “I cannot reveal what I discussed with the coach,” Srinivasan said. Efforts to reach Kirsten, currently in the West Indies, failed. He didn’t respond to text messages.
Meanwhile, it was learnt that talks among the four original hosts of the 2011 World Cup over relocation of Pakistan’s quota of 14 matches to a fifth country have failed.
As was already reported by this newspaper, the BCCI was against holding the matches in UAE.
The Pakistan Cricket Board, which has renewed its threat to sue the ICC, will have to be content with host fees for the 14 matches it was originally allotted.
The ICC will pay $750,000 per match which means the PCB can earn up to about $10.5 million. When asked, a BCCI official said India’s stand was known to all.
