BCCI threatened ICC to get revamp done: Sanjay Patel

Sanjay Patel

BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel has revealed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) only agreed to the revamp after India threatened to breakaway and form a ‘second ICC of its own’ if the international cricket body didn’t adhere to their conditions, which were mainly centered around getting a lion’s share of the revenue.

"We got criticised by many in the media and lot of them did not agree but we told them that if India is not getting its proper due and importance proposal then India might be forced to form a second ICC of its own," Patel, who was at the Sports Journalists Federation of India's 37th Annual Convention as the chief guest, said.

"England and Australia agreed and after that it was decided and from June 27th onwards the new structure will come into place and I would like to state that all 10 full members have signed the resolution."

Following England and Australia’s backing, all the other major cricketing nations followed suit, and the BCCI got their way without breaking much sweat. The only countries to initially offer any resistance – Pakistan and Sri Lanka – soon relented in fear that opposing the most powerful cricket board on its mission will adversely affect them both financially and in cricketing relations.

Patel also said that the incumbent BCCI president N Srinivasan, who is currently staying away from administration on Supreme Court’s order in relation to the IPL spot-fixing case, will take over as the ICC chairman later this month in Melbourne, as the Court hasn’t ruled against him doing so.

Patel said: "By the month end, India will take a leading role in the ICC. Mr Srinivasan is going. There is no Supreme Court bar on him. Both of us are going to Melbourne. In the last four months we have settled (the issue) with all the full members of the ICC and convinced them about the new structure and the new financial model of the ICC which would be followed in the coming years.”

"India would play a leading role in the ICC and the reasons are well known. India is more or less responsible for 68 to 72 percent of the ICC's gross revenue but unfortunately so far we were getting three to four percent of it."

On what the BCCI can expect after the ICC overhaul, Patel said: "Srinivasan asked a private agency to study the model and find out who is responsible for what amount and we found that India is responsible for 72 percent and ICC worked out that it was 68 percent. We had a meeting with the ICC officials in Dubai and we informed that 68 to 72 percent is not an issue but it was clear that the majority of the income is coming from India, so why should India take only three to four percent."

"After a lot of deliberations, and Australia and England also joined us and from the projected 2.8 billion dollars approximately for the cycle from 2016 to 2023 we worked out that India should get 24 percent which roughly works out to approximately 700 to 800 million dollars."

Patel also remained optimistic about the ICC headquarters, currently in Dubai, moving to India. He said: "On the topic of moving the ICC headquarters, India is also a contender. By doing this probably India's prominence and leadership in the field of cricket will be at great length and will be beneficial to our boys."