Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jaywant Lele has blamed the previous BCCI regime headed by Sharad Pawar for the latest Sunil Gavaskar versus BCCI battle
Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jaywant Lele has blamed the previous BCCI regime headed by Sharad Pawar for the latest Sunil Gavaskar versus BCCI battle
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Gavaskar revealed on NDTV yesterday that he was offered a higher remuneration to be a part of the IPL Governing Council, a deal that the new regime, under Shashank Manohar was supposedly unaware of. Following that, Gavaskar had been sending out 'gentle reminders' over e-mails to the BCCI, asking the board to pay him in compliance to the original offer made to him.
"Let us clarify this ufffd Gavaskar had a contract of Rs1 crore (net of taxes) a year as member of the GC and has been paid for the last three years and needs to be paid only for the July-September quarter," BCCI secretary N Srinivasan told MiD DAY. "There was a fixed contract for a member of the GC.
"He sent some mails out to our President asking for Rs 4 crore per year (that he was supposedly offered by the previous BCCI regime) for his five-year contract. This point was put forward at the AGM, and BCCI never agreed to that. There was no prior agreement to pay such an amount. There isn't any official record whatsoever of what was originally offered to him by the previous regime," Srinivasan said.
Against the idea
After its Annual General Meeting (AGM), BCCI decided to retain two cricketers in the GC as honorary members. Gavaskar was against the idea of coming on board without any compensation. Later, Gavaskar revealed that he hadn't been paid (for all three years) for the services he rendered to the IPL.
But Lele stressed the misunderstanding between the two parties must be sorted out urgently.u00a0
"If the board says they have cleared his dues, there's no reason to believe that they haven't. However, Gavaskar is a clean person, and will never tell a lie," Lele told MiD DAY last night.
"If the old regime did promise him to pay an X amount, Gavaskar has the full right to ask for the money. He should not be blamed. We must back a legendary player's statement.
"Pawar's regime should have ensured that the deal they promised to Gavaskar was conveyed to the new regime. From what I understand, that's where the whole misunderstanding has occurred. BCCI cannot be blamed, because they have clearly mentioned that Rs 1 crore was the salary of a GC member.
"They don't see a point of paying Gavaskar Rs 5 crore a year, so there's no issue whatsoever in that.u00a0 The only way to solve this mess is for Pawar to step in and have a meeting with the current BCCI President, Shashank Manohar, and Gavaskar. He must convey whatever was originally discussed in 2007 to Manohar, and that needs to be done urgently.
"It is very shameful that such a great cricketer's name is being dragged into this whole mess. Gavaskar does not deserve this," Lele regretted.
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