Board in the horns of a Vengsarkar dilemma

Dilip Vengsarkar did go to Bangalore to pick the team for the third Test yesterday.

Dilip Vengsarkar did go to Bangalore to pick the team for the third Test yesterday. And he will again be instrumental in deciding on the shortlist for the Australia tour on December 12. However, the impasse between Vengsarkar and the cricket board is certainly not over. The stand-off on the compensation issue remains, and will resurface after a breather.

As things stand now, a solution at the December 16 working committee meeting of the Board looks very unlikely, unless the parties agree to drastic modifications and climb-down on respective stances.

The BCCI is in no mood to compensate Vengsarkar, and is speaking the ‘societies-can’t-pay-money-to-its-own-men’ language. The board is registered under the Societies Act and Vengsarkar is currently the honorary vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), which is also a society.

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“This is a highly debatable point actually, and it depends on how much we can stretch the clause to apply it. The MCA is an affiliate of the BCCI, and by virtue of that, an office bearer might in future represent the state on its behalf in the Board. In either case, since he would be an elected office bearer, then there can be a problem if the board plans to pay him money,” says Jyoti Bajpai, former BCCI treasurer and now Director of UP Cricket Association.

Certain members of the board, therefore, are likely to argue that Vengsarkar quit the MCA post to become eligible for compensation. And that is unlikely, because Vengsarkar has earned the post on his own merit and is in no mood to vacate that. A debate on this point is likely to open up an entire can of worms with several past instances cropping up. Interestingly, the board has already several legal problems to deal with, especially with service tax, and has had to fight its case with the revenue department.

Another important point is that Vengsarkar’s demands have been found unreasonable by some members, especially compared with other former players’ income. The matter, though, remains very subjective.

Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, had already indicated that Rs 40 lakh that Vengsarkar has asked as compensation to stop writing is “a lot of money”.

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One option for the board in allowing Vengsarkar to write his columns again or to tour and compensate through increased daily allowances —- which will be a mighty climb down for the board that had placed a new set of guidelines and have reiterated that it will stand by it. A lot of talking will be done silently over the coming days ——Vengsarkar is set to meet Pawar one-on-one for finding a solution, while other senior members in the board lobby for gaining support before the December 16 showdown.