Champions Trophy participation to be decided on May 7: Rahul Johri

The Champions Trophy 2017 will commence in a little under four weeks time and there are still dark clouds over the defending champions India’s participation. Ever since the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have had a disagreement on the new revenue model, India’s travel to the UK, where the tournament is to be held, has swung like a pendulum.

Even as the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) led by Vinod Rai directed the BCCI to announce the squad for the event immediately, as the BCCI missed the April 25 deadline given by the ICC, doubts still persist whether the team will travel for the competition.

The BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, at an event where the new Team India jersey was unveiled, spoke to the reporters and kept his cards close to his chest. “There’s an SGM scheduled on May 7. Wait for it. You’ll know everything after it,” said Johri.

The impending issue between both parties is the amount of revenue the BCCI will receive in the new revenue model. ICC, after two revisions, had offered $400 million to the Indian board which was still less than the figure of $570 million BCCI used to earn until the Big Three Model was scrapped.

Recently, Oppo was signed as the official sponsors of Team India by the BCCI in a five-year deal. The sponsorship amount stands at a whopping Rs 1,079 crore and the deal was announced by the board on March 7. The contract began on April 1. The latest team jersey with the new sponsors was unveiled without the players as they all are busy playing in the IPL, though the Board’s General Managers, a member of the four-man group CoA, Prof Ratnagar Shetty and Dr MV Sridhar were present for the event.

Johri was delighted with the new sponsorship deal with Oppo. “India is the world’s Number 3 ranked team and Oppo’s faith in us shows their commitment to cricket as a whole and India, in particular,” said Johri. “I’m confident we will work together to help cricket grow. It’s a perfect marriage,” he added.

It remains to be seen what comes out of the SGM meeting on May 7. India are scheduled to take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening game of the global event on June 4. Even if India goes ahead with their title defence, there are doubts over this contest because of the recent political turmoil between both countries.

Speaking on which, Johri said that the final decision will be taken by the government of India about the fixture. . “That’s for the government, and not us to decide,” said Johri.