It146;s a win-win situation for Indian players

The Board of Control for Cricket in India today sat down to thrash out the issue arising out of a clash of interest between team apparel sponsors...

The Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI today sat down to thrash out the issue arising out of a clash of interest between team apparel sponsors and players8217; individual endorsements. And minutes before India8217;s opening match against England started, the board8217;s bigwigs had given the players a head start by agreeing to review and renegotiate the contract clauses so that they don8217;t clash with their personal endorsements.

Confirming this, board vice-president Rajiv Shukla told The Indian Express that 8220;players have raised certain issues regarding their personal endorsements and the board has agreed to have a re-look into the sponsors8217; contract and plug the loopholes, if any, before the end of Champions Trophy. We will carefully read the agreement once again and ensure there is no ambiguity in the contract.8221;

The decision came at a board executive committee meeting on Sunday, exactly a week after senior players wrote to BCCI president Sharad Pawar raising objections to team apparel sponsors 8212; Nike 8212; selling T-shirts bearing players8217; name through their retail outlets.

The players reminded the board that some of them have personal endorsements with Nike8217;s marketing rivals and it may adversely affect their respective contracts. Sachin and Sehwag have a contract with Adidas while Dravid, Pathan, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Raina and Dhoni have individual tie-ups with Reebok. The players had also reiterated that the contract with Nike is endorsing sponsorship on non-leading arm and licensing of official merchandise of team kit, and not adding names to their usual line of branded T-shirts.

THE ICC ANGLE

The board also stood by their stance against the ICC by categorically refusing to sign the PNA in its present form but bended a bit by appointing a four-man committee, comprising IS Bindra, Arun Jaitely, N Srinivasan and Lalit Modi to thrash out the issue with the world body.

8220;I do not foresee the issue preventing the country from taking part in future World Cups and other ICC events. We won8217;t sign the PNA in its current form. If we sign, it will harm the players,8221; Pawar said.

This was after ICC general manager, Dave Richardson, has had a word with the BCCI president. Richardson, however, said he does not see any confrontation with the BCCI. 8220;The issue is a bit heated from one side but as far as we are concerned, it8217;s business as usual. There are a few sticky things and they will be ironed out soon,8221; he said.

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Dwelling on the strength of Indian market in international cricket, Pawar made a veiled remark of having an upper hand going into negotiations saying that 8220;if India is not in the ICC, its income would be reduced to by more than 60 per cent. So, there has to be a way out.8221;

Azhar deserves the honour: Pawar

JAIPUR: BCCI president Sharad Pawar today defended BCCI8217;s decision to felicitate Mohammed Azharuddin, saying the former captain had served the country well and deserved to be honoured. 8220;Why not? He had done so much for the country,8221; Pawar told reporters when asked to comment on BCCI8217;s decision. The ICC has disapproved of the BCCI8217;s decision to send an invitation to Azharuddin, banned for life from all levels of the game for his alleged involvement in match-fixing, for the inauguration of its new headquarters in Mumbai on November 4. Dave Richardson, ICC General Manager of Operations, said the BCCI should follow the norms before deciding to bring Azharuddin back into the fold.