For the first time in a long time, Board of Control for Cricket in India saw itself sidelined by other board members of ICC at the recent annual conference of the game’s governing body in Edinburgh early this month. BCCI president Anurag Thakur proposed the idea of an annual overseas Indian Premier League in September. TOI has learnt that four cricket boards -Cricket Australia, West Indies Cricket Board, England Cricket Board and Cricket South Africa – categorically opposed the BCCI’s idea. TOI had reported in May about a tussle between the BCCI and ICC to grab the vacant September slot for a marquee T20 event. While BCCI had been busy looking at ways to push the overseas IPL, the ICC – led by chairman Shashank Manohar – has been in talks with Star TV to again make the World T20 a once in-two-years affair.
This could be the first time in close to two decades that a BCCI proposal in the international circuit has been turned down. “If true, it’s a telling sign of the reduced clout the current set of administrators (in the board) wield, unlike their predecessors.It’s also a personal embarrassment for the men running the BCCI right now,” a source said.Meanwhile, the BCCI was scheduled to call a meeting of (only) franchise owners and CEOs earlier this week.