Series against Pak not ruled out entirely by BCCI

Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) has not yet totally ruled out the series against Pakistan next month eve as uncertainty continues on the issue.

Asked if the Board has planned a series in December since the Indian team will not be engaged in that period, BCCI President Shashank Manohar said all would depend on decision on series against Pakistan.

"Depending on what happens to series against Pakistan, we have to take a call," Manohar said, leaving the matter for interpretation that series was not yet completely ruled out.

The Indian team finishes the Test series against South Africa on December 7 and is scheduled to go to Australia for a limited overs series in January, leaving a small window open for the BCCI to squeeze in another home series.

As per the International Cricket Council's Future Tours Programme, Pakistan were to host India but the vehement protest by Shiv Sena derailed the scheduled talks on the issue between Manohar and PCB chief Shahrayar Khan.

Sena workers had barged into the BCCI office, protesting against engaging in a series against Pakistan when the neighbouring country was violating ceasefire agreement between the two countries and killing Indian soldiers by shelling across the border, primarily in Jammu and Kashmir.

Manohar also said in the media conference after the BCCI's 86th AGM that the series will also depend on getting clearance from the Indian government.

"We need government permission to play against Pakistan and Board decision will be as per the government stand," Manohar said.

Meanwhile, BCCI approved six new Test centres – Pune, Rajkot, Indore, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Vishakapatnam.

"We are scheduled to play 12 games (Tests) (India are to host New Zealand and England as per ICC’s FTP). These centres have all facilities for hosting international games," said Manohar.

Manohar also named the nine cities that would be available for the bidders to buy the two new teams, who would replace suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, in the next two editions of IPL.

The cities named were: Rajkot, Pune, Chennai, Vishakapatnam, Cuttack, Ranchi, Nagpur, Indore and Dharamsala.

BCCI also sent out a statement later that the general body would meet every quarter, apparently to take stock.

Manohar said professional appointments will be made to strengthen the governance of the BCCI based on the report to be submitted by Deloitte.

After removing him as its representative in the ICC, the general body "placed on record the contribution of Mr. N Srinivasan during his tenure as ICC Chairman."

The following committees were appointed at the AGM
Senior Selection Committee (Men): Sandeep Patil (Chairman), Vikram Rathour, Saba Karim, MSK Prasad and Gagan Khoda.

Junior Selection Committee (Men): Venkatesh Prasad (Chairman), Rakesh Parikh, Gyanendra Pandey, Aman Kumar, Arup Bhattacharya.

Women's Selection Committee: Shanta Rangaswamy (Chairperson), Anjali Pendharkar, Sunita Sharma, Hemlata Kale, Lopamudra B.

IPL Governing Council for 2015-16: Rajeev Shukla (Chairman), Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Shirke, MP Pandove and Sourav Ganguly.

The Disciplinary Committee for 2015-16: Shashank Manohar (Chairman), Jyotiraditya Scindia and Niranjan Shah.

Affiliation Committee: Anurag Thakur, Prakash Dixit and Anshuman Gaikwad.
Legal Committee: PS Raman (Chairman), Dr. DVSS Somayajulu and Abhay Apte.

The Chairman of various other committees:
Technical Committee – Sourav Ganguly
National Cricket Academy Board – Niranjan Shah
Marketing Committee – Chetan Desai
IT and Data Management Committee –  Jay Shah
Finance Committee - Jyotiraditya Scindia
Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee – Dr G Gangaraju
TV Production Committee – Aashirbad Behera
New Area Development Committee –  Avishek Dalmiya
Senior Tournament Committee – Gautam Roy
Junior Cricket Committee –  T C Mathew
Media Committee – Arun Singh Thakur
Umpires Committee – CK Khanna
Vizzy Trophy – ML Nehru
Infrastructure Subsidy Committee – Prakash Dixit
Women's Committee – Kapil Malhotra.