The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy had received the conflict of interest allegations from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Ethics Officer DK Jain and they were asked to send their response within the next couple of days. However, while speaking to IANS, CoA chief Vinod Rai said that the committee wouldn’t have given the permission to CAC to go-ahead if they had found any conflict of interest there.

“The CoA did not see a conflict and hence, the appointment was done. Even if there was a difference of opinion within the CoA, that person who was in the minority has not asked for his/her opinion to be recorded,” he said.

“Firstly, it is a hypothetical question, and secondly, it is unfair on me to prejudge a decision of the Ethics Officer,” Vinod Rai further added.

On the other hand, another CoA member Diana Edulji has said that the Ethics Officer is the final authority on the conflict of interest matter. If he finds the committee conflicted, then the appointment of head coach process will be done again.

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“To be honest, I am not against any individual. But even in the case of WV Raman’s appointment as the women’s team coach, I had said that the BCCI constitution has no place for an ad-hoc CAC. Similarly, in Shastri’s case also, if the Ethics Officer does rule against the CAC and says there is conflict, the process will automatically have to be redone keeping the rules of the constitution in mind,” she explained.

“I did voice my opinion from the word go that following it to the hilt could be an issue, but till the time we have an order from the SC on the same, we have to follow it and there is no two ways about it. We can’t override the order of either the SC or the Ethics Officer because that isn’t the job of the CoA. We have to respect the Ethics Officer and the Supreme Court’s call,” she concluded.