Kapil puts Muthiah in a fix

New Delhi, August 25: For the industrialist-cum-cricket Board president AC Muthiah, jetsetting to the national Capital has become more of ...

New Delhi, August 25: For the industrialist-cum-cricket Board president AC Muthiah, jetsetting to the national Capital has become more of a routine now. He was here last month to present the Board8217;s Vision 20008242; report to the Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and on Friday he came armed with a copy of the proposed Code of Conduct.

He may well need to come back again next week. This time, he thinks, 8220;to sort out the differences with Mr Kapil Dev8221;.

For a change, nobody wanted to know what transpired in Muthiah8217;s meeting with Dhindsa on the day, which anyway makes little sense now that the sports minister has confirmed he is 8220;yet to go through the 26-page vision report8221;. Rather, it was Muthiah8217;s meeting with Kapil, who only last week had lambasted the Board, saying he would have nothing to do with cricket once his two-year contract as the coach of the Indian team ends, which kept the buzz going.

8220;Yes, I met him on Friday but only for a while. Kapil wanted to leave for somewhere so we couldn8217;t discuss much,8221; said Muthiah. Empowered by the Board to decide whether or not to continue with Kapil as the coach, he said, 8220;I want to find out what really is going on in his mind. I am coming down to Delhi next week and the two of us will sit down to see if it works out. Otherwise 8230; 8221;

There was another hint too. 8220;I won8217;t rule out a foreign coach at this stage though it8217;s slightly pre-mature now. We have an open mind on this but let8217;s first decide on Kapil, he has been contracted till 2001,8221; said Muthiah, even as the Board secretary Jaywant Lele denied any such move from his Baroda residence.

By all counts, it8217;s Muthiah who has been pushed into the hot seat now. His being charge-sheeted in a case relating to his Chennai-based company Spic, has given detractors within the Board a chance to run him down. If he choses to 8220;sack8221; Kapil, his 8220;moral authority8221; would be questioned. Sticking to Kapil would mean having a coach who himself admits his 8220;heart is just not there in the job8221;.

As for the code, Muthiah said it came into effect the day it was passed by the Board8217;s working committee and the breach if any, would be looked into by the former CBI Joint-Director K Madhavan , who is the new Inquiry Commissioner of the Board.

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India have agreed to Bangladesh8217;s invitation to play in their first Test match in November, according to the Muthiah. 8220;Most probably8221;, said Muthiah, 8220;the Test will be played at Dhaka8217;s Bangabandhu Stadium sometime in November8221;.

India, however, have turned down the offer to play a tri-series soon after the Test.

Bangladesh, granted Test status in June, invited India after England pulled out citing other commitments. Muthiah also said the government was yet to clear India8217;s proposed tour of Pakistan in December-January.