T20 BCCI advisory: Niranjan Shah lashes out at CoA, Saba Karim

T20 BCCI advisory: Niranjan Shah lashes out at CoA, Saba Karim

Niranjan Shah has slammed BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA) and General Manager Cricket Saba Karim for issuing an advisory to the State Association for hosting T20 tournaments or leagues.

The former Board of Control for Cricket in India honorary secretary has accused the CoA of adopting a confrontational approach.

The BCCI had issued an advisory to all the affiliated State units on hosting of T20 tournaments or leagues, putting a number of restrictions on the leagues. The advisory, issued under Saba Karim’s signatures, has come in the wake of the BCCI Special General Meetings nod to the State bodies for hosting T20 tournaments.

Shah has strongly reacted to the BCCI “advisory to State Associations for hosting T20 State Cricket Associations Tournaments”.

“The General Body had gone into the issue of the State Associations organized T20 tournaments and had deliberated on the issue in detail and had laid down guidelines for the organisation of such tournaments with a specific focus on Anti-Corruption protocols and to provide an opportunity to those cricketers who neither play for the country nor do they play in the IPL,” says Shah.

“Not only should such tournaments organised and hosted by State Associations under the guidelines laid down be welcomed but the creation of opportunities for the domestic cricketers must be celebrated, especially in the background of the COA-created wide gulf between the international cricketers and domestic cricketers in terms of their earnings. These tournaments can be immensely beneficial to these cricketers. The game will only benefit with greater exposure to these cricketers and the restrictions put on the limit of participation ensures that the IPL is not hampered in any way,” he added.

“It is unfortunate that the COA and/or Mr. Saba Karim, instead of taking a holistic view and appreciating that the decisions of policy lie with the General Body, appear to be taking a confrontational approach which seems to be guided more by ego than by cricketing reasons. They should also be mindful of the fact that the Chairman of the Technical Committee, Mr. Sourav Ganguly was also present in the said SGM and he was part of the decision taken at the SGM.

“Mr. Saba Karim himself has been a good cricketer, and he should always think in terms of betterment of the upcoming cricketers,” stated the former BCCI secretary.