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BCCI blows smoke...

It is all, now, in the hands of the International Cricket Council's nominated observer.

The global body has appointed an observer to examine the pitches and ground conditions at Kuala Lumpur where, for the first time, cricket will be introduced as a medal sport during the forthcoming Commonwealth Games.

BCCI officials indicate that they are waiting for the observer's report, which they hope to receive before the board's working committee meeting in Delhi on August 18 and 19, in order to take a final decision on the composition of the Indian team for that event.

Simultaneously, the board has also sent an SOS to the ICC, seeking clarification about the status of the tournament.

Board president Raj Singh Dungarpur, talking to the media in Bombay, said that if the report is negative, it will put the BCCI in the clear, and leave the Indian Olympic Association with no option but to accept a second string team for the Games. "Or third, or fourth string, even," Dungarpur said facetiously.

There is, implicit in the board president's words, an optimistic hope that the report will prove negative. And that optimism lies in the fact that Kuala Lumpur is like a rain forest when it comes to weather conditions, and will be hard put to find rain-free spells of sufficient duration to prepare pitches of international standard.

The ICC, having received reports of the recent Super Max Eights events organised at the venue, decided to send an observer for a first hand report. "If he declares the pitches unfit, then there is no time left to relay them," Dungarpur pointed out.

Raj Singh said the board's working committee will not overrule the decision of the selectors, but gave indications that the team for the Games may be announced prior to September 4 -- the date on which the conditioning camp at Chennai concludes.

There is no question but that the board president is desperately hoping to use the pitch issue as an out, for the embattled board, following a categorical statement from the IOA that it would not permit a second string team to take part in the Games. The board wants to send a full strength team to Toronto, to take part in the Sahara Cup contest against Pakistan, the dates for which clash with the Games.

When it was pointed out that the other participating nations had not made the condition of pitches an issue, Dungarpur said, "Maybe, but the ICC report will give us, at the least, a chance to review the situation."

Off the record, board members agree that the BCCI finds itself in a no win situation. On the one hand there is a contractual obligation to play in Toronto against Pakistan, not to mention that the tournament will considerably enrich the board's coffers. And on the other hand, is the prestige of winning a medal at the Games.

Under threat, now, of being barred by the IOA if they name a second string team, BCCI secretary J Y Lele faxed an urgent message to ICC chief executive David Richards pleading for a solution that could save the board's face -- not to mention thousands of canadian dollars.

"Please advise by return of fax the status that has been acorded by the ICC to matches in the Commonwealth Games," Lele's fax reads. "Would these matches be recorded as official one day internationals?"

In his fax, Lele mentions that the BCCI meeting on August 19 and 20 must take a decision of th strength of the team for the Games. "Hence your immediate response in this matter will be indeed be highly appreciated," the fax concludes.

Meanwhile, hitting back at the IOA which over the past 48 hours has been blasting the board, Lele in a faxed messege to IOA secretary Randhir Singh has specified that irrespective of the strength of the team chosen for the Commonwealth Games, the team would not not play under the IOA banner.

"You would kindly appreciate that under no circumstances our board would want to participate in the Games under any banner other than that of its own, or that of the International Cricket Council," the fax reads.

Obviously, this new twist merely compounds the existing confusion.

Lele was responding to an IOA directive, latest in the series, that India will play in Kuala Lumpur under its banner and not that of the BCCI.

Lele expressed the fear that cricket not being an Olympic event, further, that the BCCI not being affiliated to the IOA, playing under the latter's banner would affect the autonomy of the BCCI and also would have serious repercussions.

Lele further informed the IOA that for contractual reasong, the Indian team will wear the Wills logo on their attire.

This could be the final straw, since both the host nation, and the Commonwealth Games committee, do not encourage tobacco sponsorship.

Lele justifies the logo specification by saying, in his fax, that the Indian cricketers are professionals.

By doing this, Lele has merely stuck his foot more firmly into his mouth -- because none of the cricketers are registered as professionals with with the income tax authorities.

So the fallout of this latest Lele faux pas is that either the IOA will brand him a liar, or the income tax authorities will kick up a stink.

Lele of course has his own rationale. "The BCCI is bound by a contract with the Indian Tobacco Company for team sponsorship and as a result, it is imperative for our cricketers to wear the Wills logo on their shirts," he stresses in his fax.

There are clear indications that Lele has thrown this latest spanner into the works merely to find a way out of the tangle.

Logically, such contracts apply only when the Indian players play under the banner of the BCCI. For international multi-sports events, however, it is the Olympic association that is the governing body, and therefore, when picked to play in such events, the cricketers would come under the conditions governing the IOA and not the BCCI.

The Commonwealth Games has contracted with sportswear company Reebok for sponsorship, the condition being that all participants will sport its logo.

Lele in his fax categorically declines to do so.

Lele also raised the fear that the BCCI does not have a list of banned drugs, nor does it do random dope tests -- a must in international sporting encounters. And therefore, he says, an innocent cricketer might get into needless trouble.

Lele clarifies that the BCCI does not support any drug abuse in sports. However, he says, in cricket there is no dope testing and the BCCI therefore feels that it may be unjust on its part to subject its cricketers to dope tests since they are also unaware of certain legal medicines which may carry substances prohibited by the IOA.

Lele further cautions that any wrong move in this subject could be a major embarassment not only to Indian cricket but for the entire sporting fraternity of India.

Lele said these are a few points which must be addressed by the IOA before the BCCI selects its team.

BCCI has also, he says, taken umbrage at the oblique reference about its reported greed for money as a factor which is drawing them towards Toronto instead of Kuala Lumpur.

Concluding his fax on a high-falutin note, Lele says the BCCI is well aware of the glory and pride associated with winning a medal, and it certainly wants to ensure that the Indian flag flies high in any sports discipline. But first, the IOA must clarify the points raised by the BCCI and it should also remember that it was due to the request from the the Commonwealth Games organising committee that cricket playing nations agreed to send their teams.

Lele has given the IOA five days to respond.

Raj Singh Dungarpur, for his part, expressed his own surprise and hurt at the statements made by IOA chief Suresh Kalmadi regarding the Indian team's participation in the Games.

Kalmadi, in a function in Mumbai on Wednesday, said the BCCI was not volunteering to send its best team because of commercial interests which made it give greater preference to Toronto.

Dungarpur said the board had agreed to send a team in good faith on the request of its parent body the ICC, and that this outburst was unwarranted.

He suggested that the IOA examine the points raised by the BCCI secretary in his fax.

"I strongly feel that there is no need for controversy in this matter," he said.

Meanwhile, the Australian Cricket Board added a piquant edge to the controversy when it said that it would urge the ICC to ensure that India sends a competitive team to the Games.

Australia is in the same group as India, Antigua and Canada. As per the rules, only one of these teams can progress beyond the league, into the semifinals.

The deadline for naming a team was August 12, and the Indian board failed to meet it. ACB chief executive Malcolm Speed said that while he sympathised with the Indian predicament, he felt that India should send its strongest side to KL.

"We will seek an update on this from the Indians, and we have also raised the issue with the ICC," Speed said. "We would like the full Indian team to be there."

The Games have already been weakened by England's refusal to send a team, while South Africa and Pakistan are sending second string sides. Further, the West Indies too is not at full strength, being represented by the sides of Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua rather than one complete team.

By way of aside, Australia will get another look at Sachin Tendulkar when he along with Mohammad Azharuddin, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath and others arrive in Perth to take part in the inaugural World Super Eights championships in October.

The contest -- an improved version of the Sixes, devised by former Australian skipper Allan Border and former New Zealand star Martin Crowe -- will be played at the WACA ground, in Perth, between October 14-16.

Related stories:
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Either the full team, or none!
Board in a dither over Sahara squad