Sample the BCCI’s (Board for Cricket Control in India’s) exaggerated aversion to all things ICL: Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik were pulled out of warm up matches on their tour to New Zealand, because one of the teams had a player who was earlier associated with the Indian Cricket league. This unreasonable behaviour got quite a bit of flak from many in the cricket news.

Thereafter the BCCI went a step further and earned everyone’s ire when they flexed their muscles and bullied Daryl Tuffey into withdrawing from the NZ State championships. This again was so that the Indian players, who were to participate in these domestic matches as a warm up for the upcoming test series, would not have to play or have any contact with the ‘defiled’ ICL player!

And now the crowning glory in this series of overreactions: the BCCI has now taken umbrage at international cricket commentator Ravi Shastri rubbing shoulders with Craig McMillan who has ICL connections! BCCI representative, Niranjan Shah went so far as to say "As far as we are concerned any commentator or somebody involved with an unauthorised tournament declared by the BCCI, our people will not take part in it." Small wonder then that the Kiwi media has taken a dim view of BCCI tactics and referred to Shah and “BCCI’s travelling goon”!

One Kiwi publication slammed the BCCI, at the same time appreciating the visiting Indian Cricket Team: “India - great team, shame about the board they're representing,” it said pithily.

“It's one thing to pull two players out of a festival match in case they're contaminated by ex-ICL bacterium Hamish Marshall. Its two things to have New Zealand Cricket general manager of cricket Geoff Allott ring ICL virus Daryl Tuffey to ask him to withdraw from a State Championship match.

“But it's a truly absurd thing to flex their muscles in the commentary box for fear that Ravi Shastri (IPL) and Craig McMillan (ICL) might accidentally exchange bodily fluids that could eventually infect all the right-thinking people of the cricketing world,” the publication went on to say in tones of overt sarcasm.

It does in fact seem strange for the for a ‘rebel’ league that the BCCI supposedly does not recognise, they go out of their way to acknowledge the presence any anything and anyone remotely associated with the ICL. Whatever next one wonders? Perhaps Sunil Gavaskar who is associated with the IPL will be forbidden to break bread with his son Rohan who is connected with the ICL?

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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