Board to defray legal costs of players: Muthiah

The BCCI president AC Muthiah announced that the Board would reimburse the expenses of players and administrators fighting legal battles in the matchfixing imbroglio. He was speaking to reporters at the end of the two day BCCI meeting in New Delhi yesterday. Muthiah however added the rider that the BCCI would have to be convinced about the merit of the case before taking any decision in this regard.

In connection with the defamation suit filed by Kapil Dev against IS Bindra, Muthiah did not rule out the possibility of lending financial assistance to both parties under the condition that the loser reimburses the Board. Queried whether the Board would also bear the costs of the three lawsuits that the ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya is engaged in, Muthiah stated that the Board would fit the bill if he was fighting these cases in the capacity of a Board member and not as ICC president.

The BCCI chief also declared that Bindra would be asked to explain in the showcause notice filed against him why he named the reports of four tour managers as having cited misconduct by players when three of the gentlemen concerned (Jyoti Bajpai, Brijesh Patel and DV Subba Rao) have already denied doing so.

Muthiah said Bindra had in addition been asked to name the Pakistan Cricket Board secretary who reportedly told him that four Indian players had been bribed before the India-New Zealand tie in Sharjah in 1998. He also indicated that Bindra had declined to comment on the grounds that he was under an oath of confidentiality with the CBI but that the board would clarify with the CBI regarding the oath.

The Board president disclosed that among other decisions taken at the working commitee meeting, the board had decided to create an elaborate statistical database on all players for which the software has been developed by Phoenix Global, a US based company.``The performance of a batsman against various bowlers, his peak year, the performance of a bowler in the face of a particular batsman will all be there to analyse ... It will be handy for the coach and the captain,'' he said.

He also confirmed that the Board would go ahead with the Sahara Cup in Toronto, the tri-nation series in Sharjah in October and the knock-out tournament in Kenya since they were committed to them by contractual obligations.``After that, we might have a fresh look at these kinds of overseas tours,'' Muthiah said.