Rahul Dravid, the recently appointed head of cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru by the BCCI, has been asked to appear before the board’s ethics officer Justice (retired) DK Jain. The intention is to sort the allegations of conflict of interest.
Dravid to meet Jain in September
According to the reports on PTI, Dravid will be the meeting ethics officer Justice (retired), DK Jain in Mumbai on September 26. The alleged conflict of interest was brought up by Sanjeev Gupta. Gupta is a life member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association. According to him, Dravid should not be on the BCCI payroll because he was a long-term employee of Chennai-based India Cements. The company is owned by former board president N Srinivasan and it also owns Chennai Super Kings.
In response, Dravid already sent a written reply to Justice Jain. He explained how he had suspended his employment with India Cements and was getting no pay. But now after a number of such issues, the board wants to have a meeting in person with the concerned to bring an end to this episode. Along with Dravid’s case, there will also be a hearing on the case of Mayank Parikh. This senior official in the BCCI’s operations wing owns six cricket clubs in Mumbai. But as per the BCCI constitution, one cannot operate cricket clubs and be employed by the state cricket association or the board at the same time. This issue was also highlighted by Gupta and CoA.
Ganguly asks for a practical solution
The conflict of interest issue has been in focus for a while now, with a number of high-profile former cricketers being called into question. Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, and Sachin Tendulkar are among the other big names in Indian cricket to find themselves in similar situations.
Ganguly who was already vocal in the issue, recently said in Mumbai, “I wouldn’t say an exception be made to the rule, the rule has to be practical.” He further explained, “You never know whether you will become NCA head or not, three years later you may not remain NCA head, but these jobs are permanent and these jobs remain with you.”
