In a sharp retaliatory reaction to the Indian Cricket League’s massive recruitment drive, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday sacked Kapil Dev as chairman of the National Cricket Academy for aligning with the multi-million dollar rebel league and substantially hiked match fees for domestic cricketers to prevent a fresh exodus.

In a bid to counter the challenge posed by the Subhash Chandra-owned Essel Group, the Board came out with a slew of financial measures to retain its players, while making it clear that the defectors would be barred from playing for India or at the domestic level.

The decision to boot Kapil out from his post as NCA chairman was taken by the Special General Body meeting of the Board through a resolution which was passed without any opposition at the meeting, BCCI treasurer N Srinivasan told a crowded press conference.

Unanimous
“The members unanimously reiterated the stand taken earlier that every individual has the right to associate himself with the BCCI or any other organisation. However, if he chooses to associate himself with any other organisation, he shall not be entitled to derive any benefits from BCCI or be connected with any of its activities,” Srinivasan said.

“Going by this, Kapil Dev ceases to exist as NCA chairman and he has been replaced by vice-chairman Ajay Shirke till the BCCI AGM (to be held in Mumbai on Sept 28) appoints a new chairman,” the BCCI treasurer said.

Srinivasan said that the match fees of the Ranji Trophy players would be increased to Rs 35,000 per day and the total prize money for domestic tournament would be hiked to Rs 4.2 crore.

Ranji Trophy players currently get a match fee of Rs 16,000 per day, which means that domestic players would get Rs 19,000 more from the current season.

No way back
Srinivasan also made it clear that there was no way back for those who have decided to join the ICL, without mentioning it by name.

“You can’t be at both places. You can be either here or there. The choice is yours,” is how he put it.

Srinivasan added that the representative of the Railways Sports Control Board also supported the move to ban Kapil and others who have joined the ICL.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad had earlier said the Railways’ stadia would be given to the ICL organisers for their use, if they needed them.

Srinivasan said all the resolutions that were on the cards at the SGM were carried out unanimously, including the one dealing with the formation of the selection committee, with some modifications.

“We will have paid selectors from September 2008 but there would be no eligibility criteria (like so many number of Tests or first-class matches) and they can also continue to be members of the managing committees of their respective associations,” Srinivasan said.

This is a clear climb-down from the proposal that the senior selectors should have played at least five Tests or 50 first-class ties and the junior selectors a minimum of 25 first-class matches and should not be members of any association’s managing committee.

President-elect
“The proposal to have a president-elect (to succeed incumbent chief Sharad Pawar) was also carried out unanimously,” Srinivasan said.

The other amendments carried out to the memorandum of rules and regulations were the inclusion of women’s cricket and Twenty20 cricket, which are new concepts, according to BCCI sources.

The SGM also decided to build a world class National Cricket Academy in Bangalore in the Board premises, besides a zonal cricket academy in Kolkata and an indoor stadium in New Delhi.