Board to follow ICC guidelines on drugs, says Lele

Board Secretary Jayawant Lele has said that the BCCI will follow International Cricket Council's guidelines on controlling drug abuse in the game.

Lele, who was in Jaipur to attend a meeting of the Tours and Fixtures Committee, however maintained that drug abuse was not prevelant in Indian cricket and the recent allegations against some cricketers were 'baseless'.

Asked whether BCCI would introduce drug tests on the lines of those announced by the South African Cricket Board, Lele said, "These are the new challenges which cricket is facing and we shall find ways to counter them."

"We already have the code of conduct in which taking such substances is prohibited. And if ICC announces the guidelines and list of banned drugs, we will follow suit," Lele said.

Lele parried questions on whether the Cricket Board was contemplating legal action against 'Outlook' magazine which quoted former coach Anshuman Gaekwad as saying that some Indian players take drugs.

"The matter will be discussed in the Working Committee meeting," was all Lele said. Gaekwad has since denied having made the allegations attributed to him in the magazine.

Regarding the clash in dates of the Asian Test Championship match against Pakistan and a proposed bilateral indoor one-day series against Australia, Lele said BCCI would prefer to play in the Test match if it got the necessary approval from the government.

Lele replied in the negative when asked whether BCCI's views had been solicited by the government for discussion on cricketing relations in the summit talks between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf.

Lele said BCCI was working towards a graded payment system for Indian cricketers. "It is going to take some time but I do admit that a player who is playing his 200th match should get more than a player who is playing his first match," he said.

On the hectic shedule of the Indian team in the next one year, he said all other international teams were also playing almost same number of matches and India was no exception.