India’s participation in ICC Champions Trophy 2017 confirmed

After settling the on-going financial disputes between BCCI, ICC and CoA, the acting President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CK Khanna has come out with some good news for the Indian fans. He has confirmed that the defending champions India will play the Champions Trophy which will commence from 1st of June, 2017. The squad for the tournament is expected to be announced on Monday, May 8.

BCCI officials are scheduled to meet on Sunday in New Delhi for a Special General Meeting. For the past few days, there have been a lot of speculations over India’s participation in the tournament, which has been cleared today by Khanna. The BCCI found itself in trouble after a majority of the officials were in favour of boycotting the tournament as a protest against the reduction of their revenue share by the ICC. They also ignored the 25th Arpil deadline set by the ICC to reveal the squad for the tournament.

Many former cricketers like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were in favour of playing the tournament. National team coach Anil Kumble requested BCCI not to boycott the tournament. He said financial disputes should not curb the ambition of a nation of 1250 million people.

The Committee of Administration (CoA) has confirmed that India will participate in the tournament, no matter what the financial status will be. They sent a mail to the BCCI to name their squad for Champions Trophy as soon as possible. All the other 7 teams have named their squad for the 8-team elite tournament well within the stipulated deadline of 25th Arpil.

The CoA asked BCCI officials why the deadline was not followed to submit the team. The letter, “It would be appropriate to make all necessary preparations for ensuring that Team India can successfully defend its title in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 which commences on 1st June 2017. You are aware that the squad representing India at the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 was to be submitted by 25th April 2017 but the squad has not even been selected as yet. Please convene a meeting of the selection committee for selecting the squad immediately. The squad can then be submitted to the ICC without prejudice to BCCI’s legal rights.”

It further stated, “Team India should be provided with a supportive environment to showcase Indian cricket instead of being surrounded with uncertainty and confusion. There has been more than enough negativity surrounding Team India’s participation in the ICC Champions Trophy and the sooner the same is put to rest the better.”

India is placed in Group B along-side arch-rivals Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa. They won the last edition of the once-in-four-years tournament in 2013, and are termed as favorites this year as well. So it is evident that if India did not participate in the tournament, it would have been a huge loss. This will also be the first ICC tournament for Virat Kohli as a captain of the national team.