The BCCI has unanimously decided at its special general meeting on Sunday that India will participate in the Champions Trophy in June. The squad will be named tomorrow, the Indian board said in a release.
There was doubt over India’s participation due to the BCCI being dissatisfied with the outcomes of the ICC Board meetings in April. The ICC Board had approved a new constitution, a new governance structure, and a new finance model, with the other Full Members outvoting the BCCI. The Indian board was the only Full Member to object to the new financial model – by which the BCCI’s share of ICC revenues is significantly cut – and was one of only two Full Members to vote against the new governance changes.
The BCCI release said negotiation with the ICC will continue on this front. “The Board unanimously authorized the acting Hony. Secretary of the BCCI [Amitabh Choudhary] to continue negotiations with the ICC in the best interest of the BCCI while keeping its legal options open,” the statement said.
The BCCI had already delayed naming the India squad for the Champions Trophy, and there was talk of revoking the Members Participating Agreement (MPA), which governs participation in ICC events, as part of the fallout of the ICC meetings. The court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) which is running the BCCI – and to which the Indian board’s office bearers have to report until a new constitution is adopted as per the Lodha Committee’s recommendations to the board – at one point had to step in to prevent a segment of the board from serving notice to the ICC on the matter. Had they revoked the MPA, it would have meant India sitting out the Champions Trophy and all other ICC events till 2023, including the 2019 and 2023 World Cups.
The CoA had told the BCCI on May 2 that it could sent its notice to the ICC only if all 30 state associations voted “unanimously” to do this at the SGM. The CoA had pointed out to the BCCI that ICC chairman Shashank Manohar “has made an offer of a $100 million more” to the Indian board, and sending the ICC a legal notice at that point would have jeopardised negotiations at a “delicate and critical stage”.
While doubts persisted over India’s participation in the Champions Trophy, in which they are the defending champions, several former cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, had said India must play the tournament.
