Hyderabad: Taking a hard stand, a livid BCCI today suspended all bilateral cricket tours with West Indies and decided to initiate legal proceedings against the WICB for abruptly cancelling its tour of India last week.
The BCCI, which has incurred heavy losses due to the abandonment of the series, took these decisions "unanimously" at the Working Committee meeting which was convened to decide the future course of action.
The Board, however, decided not to punish the West Indies cricketers by allowing them to compete in the Indian Premier League, putting an end to the speculation over their participation in the cash-rich league.
"BCCI will initiate legal proceedings against West Indies Cricket Board due to the abrupt cancellation of this tour. All Bilateral tours between BCCI and WICB stand suspended," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said in a brief statement after the meeting.
The BCCI also appreciated the gesture of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board for accepting the offer of playing a five-match ODI series at such a short notice.
"The Members appreciated the gesture of Sri Lankan Cricket Board for having accepted our request to play 5 ODIs starting from 2nd of November 2014, at such a short notice.
"This tour is in lieu of their scheduled tour to India next year which will be reciprocated by India touring Sri Lanka in months of July/August 2015," the statement said.
The venues for the five ODIs will be Cuttack, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad and the detailed itinerary will be announced shortly.
The BCCI statement, however, did not specify the exact period of suspension of cricketing tours between the BCCI and the WICB. It also did not mention whether legal proceedings would also include claiming damages from the crisis-hit WICB.
It is learnt that the majority of the members were in favour of taking a hard stand against the WICB for aborting the tour after playing four ODIs.
The West Indians were scheduled to play five ODIs, one T20 and three Tests matches during the tour between October 8 and November 19.
The Board did not crack the whip on the West Indies players by allowing them to play in the IPL which will start from April 9 next year.
"West Indies players will be playing in IPL," said IPL Chairman Ranjib Biswal after the Governing Council meeting here.
Twenty20 tournament is scheduled to kickstart on April 9, 2015 just after the ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. "IPL will begin from April 9 next year and the franchises will get 11 days for preparation of the T20 league after the end of the World Cup," a member of the IPL Governing Council told PTI.
He also said that the franchises have asked for compensation for hosting IPL 7 in the UAE. "The franchises have asked to compensate for the 15 days
of IPL 7 held outside the country. The BCCI auditors will decide on the amount of compensation," he added.
However, BCCI joint secretary and Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association president Anurag Thakur said that a formal announcement regarding the West Indies players' IPL participation will be made later.
The Working Committee was called to decide on the exact course of action and the amount of compensation to be claimed from the West Indies Cricket Board for abandoning the tour of India mid-way.
The aggrieved Caribbean players, who were persuaded to take the field for the fourth ODI in Dharamsala on October 17, conveyed their decision to call off the remaining part of tour to the BCCI.
Patel had earlier indicated that the BCCI would take a harsh decision against the Windies Board. Hours after the West Indies pulled out of the tour, the
BCCI approached the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and quickly cobbled up a five-match ODI series to be played from November 1 to 14.
The West Indies players were adamant to withdraw their service since they were unhappy with the new contracts, offered to them after landing in India.
As per the new contracts, agreed between the WICB and the Players Association (WIPA), the cricketers reportedly suffered a 75 per cent cut in their salaries.
