KSCA set to boycott BCCI awards, Pataudi Lecture

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), which will host the second Test between India and Australia starting Saturday, has told the BCCI that it will boycott the MAK Pataudi Memorial Lecture and the annual BCCI awards to be held on March 8 in Bengaluru. ESPNcricinfo understands there is also a danger of other state associations following suit in protest.

In an e-mail sent last week, BCCI chief executive Rahul Johri had invited state associations for the fifth Pataudi Lecture, to be delivered by former India wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer, and the board's annual awards with the last paragraph saying: "Kindly note that the committee of administrators is constrained to convey that only those office bearers who are qualified as per the Supreme Court orders are expected to attend the function."

The KSCA, in a reply dated March 3, said it would not even "remotely think" of attending the function, to be held on the last scheduled evening of the second Test. The KSCA further said it would be a "humiliation to the very cricketing fraternity" to accept the invitation with constraints and restrictions, and also accused the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) of showing "prejudice" against "various people who have served the game of cricket over decades". The two-page e-mail, accessed by ESPNcricinfo, was signed by KSCA's current president Sanjay Desai and secretary K Sudhakar.

Although the KSCA is the first state association to lodge the protest, many other BCCI members may not attend the March 8 event. "Though courtesy demands and it is customary to thank you for the subject invitation, it is unfortunate that we do not intend to even acknowledge leave alone, thank you for the invite," the KSCA's e-mail said. "It may seem very rude and un-diplomatic, however, looking at the last paragraph of your invitation, constraining you from certain acts, we would like to also ascertain that we are also constrained not to acknowledge, thank or even remotely think of attending this function."

This is the second time in three days that the CoA has come in for strong criticism from the state associations. On Thursday, many state associations, barring Vidarbha and Tripura, sent the CoA separate e-mails saying they would not comply with its directives till they got clarification from the Supreme Court on aspects like eligibility of an office bearer. They also told the CoA that they were "alarmed" it was "overstepping" the role defined by the court.

Two days later, the KSCA adopted the same blunt tone. "The fact [is] that the Committee of Administrators who have blatantly overstepped their roles far overreaching the direction of the Supreme Court do not understand the very meaning of an annual awards function pertaining to Cricket and an invitation to the same.

"Administrators and Cricketers who have contributed their time and energy and also have sacrificed immensely for the development of game over decades are being treated so shabbily by the Committee of Administrators as though all of them are of doubtful integrity."

According to Desai and Sudhakar, the KSCA was one of the most "transparent" and "well run associations" in the country. They stated that many Karnataka players had achieved the distinction of being a cricketer of "impeccable character" because "the same has been inculcated" in the KSCA. "Under these circumstances, if in the wisdom of the Committee of Administrators, they feel that people who have contributed over decades are not worthy of attending a cricketing award function, then it demonstrates the prejudice they are carrying in this matter about the various people who have served the game of cricket over decades."

They concluded the e-mail by saying: "Debarring personnel who have contributed immensely over decades from being part of a cricketing function of the BCCI which has been built brick by brick by the sweat and sacrifice of these personalities in our view is an absolute aberration on the wisdom of the learned Committee of Administrators."