Dalmiya clarifies stand on playing Pak

Board of Control for Cricket in India president Jagmohan Dalmiya on Wednesday welcomed former India captain Kapil Dev's return to the cricket field.

Addressing his first press conference in New Delhi since taking over as BCCI president, he said: "I have seen the picture of Kapil Dev on the Ferozshah Kotla cricket ground. He is an icon of Indian cricket and his return will give something to Indian cricket. He had gone into self exile after some allegations were made against him. I welcome his return."

Asked if he had spoken to Dev following his appearance on the field, Dalmiya said he did not get an opportunity to do so, adding: "Both Kapil and myself can reach each other on telephone."

He did not rule out the possibility of Kapil returning as coach of the Indian team provided the former ace all-rounder is interested in the job.

Talking about the renewal of present coach John Wright's contract, which expired last month, Dalmiya said the Indian team is in South Africa and he is in no hurry to look into the renewal of the contract.

"I have asked for reports, both from the physio and coach, on the performance of the Indian players. I am not putting any time limit on their reports and would not like to pressurize them as the Indian team is currently playing in South Africa. The two would send their replies shortly. When the team returns we would certainly go into the issue of renewal of the contract of the coach," he said.

Has team captain Sourav Ganguly asked for the services of fast bowler Zaheer Khan, as reported in the media?

"If the captain asks for a particular player, the player would have to undergo a fitness test first," Dalmiya replied.

He promised that the board would not interfere with the work of the selection committee, both senior and junior, so long as they functioned as per the system.

"Even if the captain asks for a particular player and the selection committee feels that the player in question is not fit to be included in the team then the decision of the selection committee would prevail," he said.

Asked why he is keen on establishing bilateral ties with Pakistan on the cricketing level, when the government is against it, Dalmiya replied: "Let me clarify that I have never said that we should play cricket with Pakistan on a bilateral level. All that I said was that when the government wants us to cancel a particular tour they should tell us well in advance because, in such an event, it is not possible to fill up the gap in international commitments.

"It is for the government to decide who should we play and who we should not play. When South Africa was banned from international cricket because of racial discrimination and the government told us that we could not tour South Africa we went along with the government's decision.

"Even now we will go along with the government of India."

He informed that the board has made some changes in the domestic calendar and the selection of the Indian team for the junior World Cup, to be held in New Zealand, next January, would be done after the completion of the Cooch Behar and C K Nayyudu trophies.

"The junior selection committee would see the performance of the players during these two tournaments and shortlist 25 players for a three-week coaching camp, which would begin on December 8 and end on December 22.

"Thereafter the selection of the team would be done. The team would leave for New Zealand on December 28/29, two weeks before the World Cup schedule," he explained.

He also promised that the selection committee would be allowed to have an informal session with the coach, captain and vice-captain in order to gauge the performance level of the players.

So how did he engineer the coup at Madras?

"I did not manage any coup. In fact, there was an attempt to engineer a coup against me and it failed. Had I not been confident that I would win, I would not have contested the elections. In fact, I had 22 votes on my side before the meeting. I am still trying to figure out where the rest of my votes went," he said with a big smile.

Dalmiya went on say that he congratulated the Indian team on its victory over South Africa in the triseries on Wednesday.

"I complimented the team on its performance. If they keep up the performance like this then I, perhaps, will not go to South Africa," he said.

He denied that the England Cricket Board has asked for change in the venue of some of their matches on their tour of India, saying: "We have not received any such request so far."

He added: "Yes, we have received a request from the Bengal Cricket Board to change the date of the scheduled match on January 26 for security reasons. This is being worked out," he added.