On Wednesday, BCCI had a discussion with Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore regarding the appeal of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for the testing of Indian cricketers and also sought the government’s view on playing arch-rivals Pakistan in the planned ICC Test Championship.
NADA wants Indian cricketers to sign the whereabouts clause but the cricket board has rejected the demand. BCCI has insisted that it is a WADA-compliant organization so there was no need for it comes under NADA’s supervision.
The BCCI has its Special General Meeting (SGM) scheduled for December 9, where the NADA issue has been now added to the agenda after the meeting with Rathore. BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and General Manager (Administration and Game Development) Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, who is well-versed with the BCCI’s anti-doping policy, met Rathore at his office.
Talking about the meeting one of the BCCI officials said, “The topic of discussion today was about NADA and WADA. During yesterday’s meeting, it was decided that Rahul will be accompanied by Prof Shetty as he is aware about the anti-doping policy of BCCI. There were some other operational topics discussed but main was anti doping policy.”
When CK Khanna, the acting BCCI President, was contacted, he confirmed that anti-doping policy has been added to the agenda. He also clarified that the final call on Indo=pak ties will be taken by PMO and Home Ministry. He said, “This meeting was a courtesy call and was planned long ago. Since Rathore took charge, they wanted to meet him. All issues, including cricketing ties with Pakistan, was discussed. Anyway, playing Pakistan or not, it is not only the decision of Sports Ministry but it lies mainly with PMO and the Home Ministry,”
Team India played its last bilateral series with Pakistan in 2012-13 for two T20Is and three ODIs. The Twenty20 series was drawn and Pakistan won the ODIs 2-1.
As per the ICC Future Tours Program, each and every registered nation is bound to play against each other at least once and if India do not play with Pakistan, they would lose points. In 2014, BCCI and PCB had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. However, after India refused to play Pakistan due to tense relations, the PCB sent a notice of disagreement to the BCCI, claiming losses due to the BCCI’s refusal to tour Pakistan in 2015.
