BCCI never promised to pay Gavaskar Rs 4 crore: Shukla
Senior BCCI official Rajiv Shukla on Thursday said that the BCCI had never taken any decision to pay former India captain Sunil Gavaskar Rs. four crore for media and governing council related activities involving the IPL.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: December 16, 2011 07:54 AM IST
Senior BCCI official Rajiv Shukla on Thursday said that the BCCI had never taken any decision to pay former India captain Sunil Gavaskar Rs. four crore for media and governing council related activities involving the IPL.
"The concerned people, they told the Working Committee and that no such decision (to pay Gavaskar) was taken in (earlier) Working Committee Meeting or AGM," Shukla said when asked about Gavaskar claiming that he had been promised Rs. four crore by the Board.
Asked whether the BCCI would pay Gavaskar the money, Shukla said, "Working Committee or AGM has not taken any such decision, so this question does not arise."
Asked if the matter was closed, Shukla said, "That was what the Working Committee was told about."
The BCCI Working Committee in its meeting on December 12 unanimously shot down Gavaskar's demand of a whopping USD 1 million fee (Appr 4-5 crore) per season for media activities involving the Indian Premier League.
Spaeking on Team India's hectic schedule, Shukla said it was unavoidable. Senior batsman Rahul Dravid had raised the issue during his Sir Donald Bradman Lecture in Australia.
"He is right that the calendar is hectic but it is a compulsion also. Every country wants to play with India and there are certain obligations to fulfil and there are only 365 days in a year," said Shukla, the IPL chief.
"But the BCCI has taken precautions and steps to save the players from getting tired. We have told the players to inform the Board whenever he feels tired and needs rest. He will be given rest and replaced by another player. We have been doing that. No player is forced to play," Shukla told NDTV.
He added that the BCCI is considering taking Test cricket to smaller cities to address the issue of low crowd turn-out.
"Low turnout of crowd is a global phenomenon but we are concerned of it. We are thinking of taking Test cricket to B grade cities where more people want to watch cricket," he said.