Laxman slams Vinod Rai-led panel for lack of clarity over his role in the Cricket Advisory Committee; calls conflict of interest allegations baseless
VVS Laxman
Known to be soft-spoken, VVS Laxman, the elegant and wristy former India batsman is livid over conflict of interest allegations and has blasted the Committee of Administrators (CoA) for the manner in which the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) has been handled.
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VVS ready to step down
Laxman, who is ready to relinquish the CAC post, was responding to the notice issued by the BCCI ethics officer Justice DK Jain after a complaint was filed by Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) life member Sanjeev Gupta over alleged conflict of interest for being a CAC member, his role as Sunrisers Hyderabad's mentor and being on commentary duty. Sachin Tendulkar, who is the other CAC member has already responded to the notice issued to him.
"The allegation of the complainant are baseless as we are in no manner selectors of either players or coaches and CAC is not a permanent body," Laxman wrote in his reply to the ethics officer, a copy of which is in possession of mid-day.
Laxman then trained his gun at the three-member CoA, chaired by Vinod Rai. "On December 7, 2018, we had written to the Committee of Administrators requesting them to clarify the scope of our role and responsibilities. To this date, there has been no reply. Since no tenure had been mentioned in the letter of intent issued in 2015, it was only reasonable to expect some communication on whether the CAC was still in existence. Unfortunately, that hasn't been forthcoming," Laxman wrote.
Laxman, however, elaborated on the role of the CAC which was first outlined to him in 2015 and the reason that prompted him to come on board. "...included focusing on improving performances of the national team overseas, creating a pathway to track a young cricketer's career from U-19 to India 'A' to the international team, arriving at a decision about the balance between T20Is, ODIs and Test cricket for the country's top players, managing workloads for fast bowlers, means to improve the quality of Indian spinners, and education and life-skills for young cricketers.
"However, it is notable that none of the CAC members has (sic) been called on to give our opinion on any subjects, except to be invited to be involved in the selection of national coaches and, once, the selection of junior national selectors. However, this is by no means a regular process and I am in no manner to be considered a selector," Laxman stated.
Laxman reveals all
Laxman also revealed the reason why the CAC did not agree to select the women's head coach in December last year after the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. "We were given a little over 24 hours to confirm our availability to be on the panel to select the India women's head coach. All three of us expressed our inability to participate in the process due to short notice and prior commitments," Laxman said.
"Conflict of Interest clause from the perspective of whether in the performance of my duties as a CAC member, I am being influenced by external factors. It is my respectful submission that when I am barely required to discharge any duties as a member of the CAC, which I wasn't even sure existed due to the lack of communication until I received this notice, questions of any conflict of interest doesn't arise," he concluded.
Meanwhile, complainant Gupta yesterday shot an email to the ethics officer, requesting several documents from Laxman and Tendulkar which included contract letters with their respective IPL teams, contract copy with various production companies for commentary [in Laxman's case].
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