BCCI section wants Vengsarkar out over latest quit threat, he can’t tour Australia

Days after being told that rules forbid him from writing newspaper columns, Indian cricket chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar is at it again...

Days after being told that rules forbid him from writing newspaper columns, Indian cricket chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar is at it again — he has again threatened to resign and Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, is said to be unhappy over the tactics being used to embarrass the Board. In fact, an annoyed section of the Board wants Vengsarkar out. He has even been told he will not be sent to Australia when the Indian team goes there — something that the Board, when it stopped his column, reportedly agreed to.

For now, the Board wants status quo maintained — Vengsarkar should lead the selectors in Bangalore and choose the team for Australia before the Board and he resume talks. “In the country’s interest, we have asked Vengsarkar to first select the team for Australia and then the Board will sit with him to find a solution,” Pawar said.

For the second time in two weeks, Vengsarkar yesterday offered to resign — he has given nothing in writing though — as chairman of selectors but this time the reasons are said to be more than the ban on his writings. Vengsarkar left for Mumbai last night after a long chat with Pawar in Kolkata — the second Test match between India and Pakistan is on at Eden Gardens — and his exit only fuelled speculation.

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As reported by The Indian Express, Vengsarkar is extremely upset with the ban on his columns. He had told Pawar that he would lose about Rs 40 lakh a year by not writing his columns.

This time, he has cited problems with BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah over matters relating to the date, venue and method for selecting the team for the third Test against Pakistan and the upcoming tour of Australia.

It’s learnt that Shah wanted the selectors to name the team for the third Test via tele-conferencing and then meet in Bangalore on December 5 to decide on the team for Australia but Vengsarkar clearly had different views and dates in mind —he wanted the selectors to meet on December 8 for a decision on Australia. Moreover, the decision on a compensation for stopping his columns is still pending.