Pawar

New Delhi, Aug. 10: Sharad Pawar today dubbed the Indian Cricket League (ICL) a “purely commercial venture that had nothing to do with the promotion of the sport”.

The remarks, made in a letter the cricket board boss wrote to Congress heavyweight Digvijay Singh, heightened the war of words between the rival bodies. Singh had publicly urged Pawar not to take a rigid stand against cricketers willing to join the ICL.

Today, the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) chief was speaking of “clearing a few misconceptions”. In the two-page letter, released to the media, Pawar said the ICL was an “out and out commercial venture which up to now has no proven track record”.

Pawar’s strong line against the league, promoted by Zee boss Subhash Chandra, could be aimed at removing the perception among some that he was being soft on BCCI’s rival.

Such a view gained ground in the past few days when the board put out rather vague statements about the ICL compared with the life ban threat to players issued by board secretary Niranjan Shah last week. On Wednesday, the board had merely talked of denying the “benefits to anyone associated with any other organisation”.

Today, Pawar repeated the “benefit” line, but with the tacit admission that players should be free to decide. “You are right in saying the players should be free to ‘opt and play as per their own wish’. It is most certainly up to them to choose whether they wish to play under the banner of the BCCI or ICL. If they choose to play for the ICL, it is only fair that they should not expect benefits and privileges from BCCI,” he wrote.