NEW DELHI: An extravagant Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and a thrifty International Cricket Council (ICC) find themselves engaged in a tug-of-war with the Indian board demanding a heftier budget for hosting the Champions Trophy scheduled in October-November.
BCCI top brass, including secretary Niranjan Shah, met visiting ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed here on Thursday to finalise the Venue Agreement and demanded a hike in the budget.
Talking to reporters on Thursday night, Shah, however, refused to call it a 'serious problem' and said a solution would be out soon.
"We met for the Venue Agreement and told them that we need a hike in the budget. Among the four venues, only Mohali has world class facilities. The Cricket Club of India Stadium in Mumbai is not of the same class, while the stadium in Jaipur also needs facelifts. And then there is Ahmedabad. After all, you are hosting a tournament of such a huge magnitude. For these upgradation works, you need more money and we have conveyed that to ICC,'' he informed.
"And we have also reminded the ICC that this time we are hosting 40 per cent more matches, compared to the 2002 event in England. ICC has to recognise that,'' he argued.
"This is an ICC event and they would be running the show. Our job is just to arrange the matches in the best possible manner and for that we need more money,'' he added.
He, however, played down the incident as a ''mere difference of opinion'' and said, ''This is nothing serious. We are in constant touch with them and they have their representatives in India too. I think we'll settle the issue in the next 10-12 days.''
