The announcement of Afghanistan's first-ever Test against India, from June 14-18 in Bangalore, by the BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary and CEO Rahul Johri on Tuesday (January 16) hasn't gone down well with the other members of the BCCI top brass, especially acting president CK Khanna and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry.
As per the BCCI constitution, any decision with regards to venue and date of international matches is taken by the tours and fixtures sub-committee. President, secretary and treasurer are ex-officio members of that committee. On Wednesday (January 17), Khanna, in an e-mail, a copy of which is with TOI, to Choudhary, has pointed out the same. "Dear Amitabh Ji, the SGM of BCCI in its meeting dated 11th December, 2017 had taken the historic decision to host Afghanistan for their first ever Test, a decision that had been greatly appreciated by one and all.
"You held a press conference yesterday wherein you announced Bengaluru as the venue for that Test. As far as my view is concerned, as a venue Bengaluru is one of the best in the country, managed by KSCA which is not only one of the leading cricket associations but also hosts a wonderful game of cricket every time.
"Therefore, I write to you not about the selection of the venue but about the process involved. You are well aware that the decision with regard to allocation of matches lies with the Tour, Programme and Fixtures Committee of the BCCI. The decision with regard to the venues of the entire home season (2017-18) of Bilateral Cricket had also been taken by the meeting of the Tour, Programme and Fixtures Committee held at the ITC Sonar, Kolkata.
"In these circumstances, your announcement of a venue without the same being discussed and decided in a meeting of the Tour, Programme and Fixtures Committee is not appropriate. Moreover, you have done this without even consulting the other office bearers of the BCCI or even with the members of the Tour, Programme and Fixtures Committee," Khanna has said.
He has then added: "I would like to stress here that I am neither judging nor questioning the choice of the venue or the quality of the decision taken by you but the same should have been done at the appropriate forum. Therefore, it now becomes imperative for us to lend sanctity to a decision that has historic significance. The acting president has asked the secretary to convene a meeting of the Tours and fixtures committee on January 31 to ratify this decision.
"Accordingly, I advice you to convene a meeting of the Tour, Programme and Fixtures Committee of BCCI on January 31 at 11 am in Delhi to discuss, decide and/or ratify the venue for the first ever Test Match to be held between India and Afghanistan which the BCCI is to host. This is subject to any directions of the Committee of the Administrators (CoA)," concluded Khanna.
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