CoA disagrees to address rift in team until players raise it themselves

Ever since India crashed out of the cricket World Cup 2019 by losing to New Zealand by 18 runs in the semi-final, some unwanted problems have started surfacing in their cricketing world. On one hand, there are reports about the rift between senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – the team’s captain and vice-captain (in limited-overs).

On the blip side, the issue of WAGs’ stay with the players during tournaments. One senior player has even come under the scanner on charges of ignoring the family clause and keeping his family with him for a period longer than that was allowed.

While these reports have snowballed, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) that runs the BCCI has refused to get into the depths, especially of the reports about the rift between players. The CoA is set to meet in New Delhi on Friday but will not address the controversies.

A member of the CoA has reportedly said that they are unlikely to discuss issues of rifts in the team unless those are raised by the players themselves. Earlier, it was reported that India could go for split captaincy with Virat Kohli taking charge in the longer format and Rohit in the limited-overs. However, the speculation was buried as Kohli was announced the captain India in all series across formats against the West Indies starting next month.

“The CoA cannot be reacting to reports in the media. If the players have any issue, they can/should bring it up with us. As far as the committee is concerned, there is no rift till the players talk of it with us,” India Today cited reports quoting the member as saying.

BCCI official not happy with CoA’s working

According to a senior BCCI official, it was important that the CoA either addressed the news of rift between the players or put all speculation to rest. He said the body could always ask the manager for a report. The official was not happy with the CoA’s style of functioning and handling things.

“I wish the CoA would really focus on what they are required to focus on — administration. Someone in the CoA seems so hell-bent on getting involved in board politics that the real job has been left undone. We are appalled by the news of rifts in the team coming out daily and at the absence of any effort to either lay the stories to rest or to solve the issue if it really exists. Surely, the manager can be asked to submit a report since it is an administrative issue,” the board functionary added.

The board official also said that although the CoA had said after India’s exit from the World Cup that a review of its performance would be done, nothing much was heard thereafter. It may be mentioned here that co-member Diana Edulji objected to the idea of reviewing the performance saying it wasn’t the committee’s job to interfere in cricketing affairs.