Masala organisers peeved at BCCI

NEW DELHI, August 2: What was promised to be a mega event, starring all the current India players as part of the Asia XI to take on the W...

NEW DELHI, August 2: What was promised to be a mega event, starring all the current India players as part of the Asia XI to take on the World XI in a series of one-day games in the United States of America and Canada later this month, has turned out to be a low-profile affair, if not a non-starter altogether.

The organisers — Post Media Group — said today that despite obstacles from various quarters, the series will go on as scheduled. “We will not go back on what we have promised,” Krishan Sharma, representing the organisers, told newspersons here today.

He said, “The purpose of organising these matches is to promote the game and not to control it.” While current players from Sri Lanka, Australia, the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Kenya have confirmed their participation in the series starting on August 6, Indian players are unlikely to play.

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“We (organisers) are not facing any problem from individual players. In fact, they (Sachin Tendulkar, Mohd Azharuddin, Javagal Srinath, Saurav Ganguly, Robin Singh, Nayan Mongia, Venkatesh Prasad, etc) were all more than wlling. But the national (BCCI) and international (ICC) cricket authorities are not inclined to let them participate,” Sharma explained.

He blamed the ICC of `double standard.’ “On the one hand, the ICC is driven to promote the game in most parts of the world but on the other is not inclined to allow others to take the initiative. There is pressure on the organisers not to go ahead with the matches, scheduled in New York (August 6), Toronto (August 8) and San Francisco (August 10).

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