No question of splitting
the ICC: Dalmiya

Onkar Singh

The working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday unanimously decided to back its president, Jagmohan Dalmiya, on the decisions he took during the last week following penalties imposed by International Cricket Council match referee Mike Denness on master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and five other Indian players for various misdemeanours in the second Test against South Africa.

It empowered Dalmiya to settle the issue amicably as also keep other remedies open, including legal redressal, should the ICC adopt a tough stand against the BCCI.

"We are not for a showdown with the parent body. We are for the show to go on," Dalmiya told a crowded news conference in Delhi on Monday evening.

He also made it clear that as far as the BCCI is concerned it already dropped Virender Sehwag for one Test and the player would be eligible to play in the Mohali Test.

"It is for the selection committee to decide who to include and who should be kept out of the team," he said.

Excerpts from the press conference:

Mr Dalmiya do you feel that the South African board has let you down, because while they were supporting you, they were also talking to the ICC and bargaining with them?

I do not feel that the United Cricket Board of South Africa has let us down. I congratulate the UCB for agreeing to go ahead with the Test match and saving the game.

Do you think you are heading for a showdown with the ICC?

In the last couple of days the kind of statements that I have seen in the media gives the impression that our softness has been taken as weakness by some persons in the ICC. We want to settle the matter amicably and we have also resolved that India would not play any international match where Mike Denness is the match referee.

But if the parent body does not listen to you then will you split ICC?

There is no question of the BCCI splitting the ICC. It is the parent body and will continue to be the parent body. We have not split the ICC in the past; we have not split it today and would not do so even after one thousand years.

Do you think the South Africans were playing a double game by talking to you on one hand and talking to ICC on the other to save the World Cup?

By going ahead with the third Test match they saved the World Cup.

But the ICC has said that South Africa have won the series 2-0?

How can they say this? Unless they regard the third Test match as the official Test match and feel that India is going to lose this Test match. As far as India is concerned, so far one Test has been won by the South African team and the other one had ended in a draw.

What is the position regarding Virender Sehwag? Will you play him in Mohali?

The selection of the Indian team is the responsibility of the selection committee.The BCCI does not interfere with the selection process. We have already dropped Sehwag for one Test match as per the match referee's decision. He is eligible to play in Mohali.

Sunil Gavaskar and Bishan Singh Bedi have said that Tendulkar was guilty of tampering with the ball? Do you agree with their point of view?

First of all, let me clarify that neither of the two have said that Sachin Tendulkar was guilty of ball tampering. What they had said was that Sachin should have sought the permission of the umpires before cleaning the ball. The footage shown also confirms that he did not tamper with the ball. Yes, he did not seek the permission of the umpires to clean the ball and to that extent he is guilty.

So you say that Sachin did not tamper the ball?

Yes, that is what I am saying, because the umpires are supposed to see the ball every two hours. Sachin cleaned the ball in the 19th over and the same ball was used until 75th over. This clearly shows that Sachin Tendulkar did not tamper with the ball.

So you have decided not the play in any international match where Mike Denness is the match referee...

This is correct... and we have also demanded that the match referee should also be brought under the purview of the Code of Conduct. So far he is exempt from it. What Denness did was too harsh; he erred on the point of law by not following proper procedures laid down in the ICC Code of Conduct and regulations.

Malcolm Gray has, in a radio discussion, said that there is no question of expelling India from the ICC?

If he is saying that, it means that he also wants to settle the issue amicably.

But if you insist on playing Virender Sehwag, don't you think the English team might pull out of the series against India?

Lots of things happen in 24 hours and this series starts next week. There are still many days to go before the Mohali Test. Let us wait and watch. The developments are taking place at a very fast pace.

In case it comes to a showdown with ICC do you think you have enough members on your side to support you in your cause?

This is a hypothetical question and this will be answered in due course of time.

The Mike Denness controversy