The BCCI’s platinum jubilee celebrations later this year could be elevated to global status: the Board, it is reliably learnt, will invite UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to be part of the November celebrations, which will be held under the motto ‘‘Cricket For Peace’’.A request for Annan’s participation is expected to be formally sent out at the end of the BCCI working committee meeting on Monday. Dalmiya and the UN go back a long way; the ICC, under Dalmiya’s presidency, and UN had started a programme on the ‘‘right of every child to play cricket’’. The two organisations have also been collaborating on the UNAids Foundation since last November, so it is ‘‘expected’’ that Annan will respond positively.Senior BCCI officials, when contacted, refused to comment, saying only that these were ‘‘just plans’’. Things will crystallise, they said, once the BCCI platinum jubilee celebration committee is reconstituted under Dalmiya’s chairmanship.The celebrations, taking place between November 9-15, will be designated as Cricket Week and will have many more programmes. Part of the plan is to invite two cricket legends, Sir Garfield Sobers and Australian Neil Harvey, as special invitees.There is also a plan for a jubilee match between Pakistan and India on November 14, at either Delhi or Kolkata, which will be discussed at the meeting in New Delhi.The celebrations will travel across the country and will have, among other events, a special seminar-cum-debate and many coaching camps across the country, culminating in a special dinner. This seven-day period is the only time available for BCCI’s programme, as the Australian tour of India ends on November 7 and the South African tour begins 10 days later.
