BCCI settles monetary debt with Bengal board

Amid the gloom of the abandoned first one-day international between India and Sri Lanka and the disappointment of almost 90,000 fans, there was some good news for the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released Rs. 8.02 crore (US$ 1,819,625) of the money owed to them. Sharad Pawar, president of the BCCI, attended the rain-shortened match and handed over a cheque to Prasun Mukherjee, the president of the CAB.

"Pawar skipped a meeting to watch this game and he said that since it had been decided in principle to release the grants to the CAB and that since he was coming over here, he decided to bring a cheque along with him to the tune of Rs 8.02 crore," Mukherjee said at a press conference soon after the game was abandoned. "He pointed out that a rough calculation by the BCCI had revealed that more than Rs 8 crore was due to the CAB from the Indian board. Sharad Pawar also told us that after proper calculations, supplementary payment, if any, will also be made to the CAB."

The CAB had had its subsidies and grants frozen for a period now following disciplinary action against Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former president of the CAB, and alleged financial irregularities.

Mukherjee was understandably pained at the manner in which the game was rained out after the CAB had made all efforts possible to get the ground ready in the short time they had. "Everyone is very unhappy with the way the game ended. A lot of hard labour has gone into the organisation of this match. We had only 10-12 days' time, and the arrangements were spotless. Everyone including the umpires were highly sympathetic," said Mukherjee, who is also the city police commissioner.

"In fact, at one stage, the umpires were willing to make it a Twenty20 game and extend play till 11.15 pm, but felt the conditions were not good enough after their 8.30 pm inspection for even that to transpire. They felt that a majority of these players would figure in the World Cup next month, and that it wouldn't be fair to force them to play in conditions that weren't ideal. Also, this is February, and no one expected that it would rain like this at this time of the year."

Although Mukherjee initially denied that the Indian team had already boarded the team bus before the final inspection was done, he later softened his stance. "Even when the umpires went out for the inspection, they said they were 98% certain that there would be no play. All these players are experienced enough to know that there was no chance of play," said Mukherjee. "In view of security and other issues, we kept the buses ready for the teams to leave as soon as the official announcement came.

"The umpires could have waited to call off play till 9.30 pm, but the general feeling was that there was no point in making the fans wait for an hour longer and then announce the abandonment."