Board to consider Chauhan case next fortnight
The testing case of off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan will come up at the Board of
Control for Cricket in India's technical committee meeting in Delhi on January
27.
BCCI secretary Jayant Lele said a cassette of Chauhan's action -- on the basis of which the International Cricket Council cast aspersions on the bowler's action -- will
be reviewed at the meeting. Sunil Gavaskar will chair the discussion.
Ramakant Desai, chairman of the selectors, is one of the committee's
members. But Kapil Dev, who is on the ICC panel on the subject, is strangely not
part of the BCCI committee.
It was Gavaskar and Kapil who first scrutinised Chauhan's action last May.
The ICC sent a notice to the BCCI last month stating that Chauhan's action was
suspect and urged that the off-spinner not be selected for the Indian team. Chauhan was then dropped from the Indian side for the Independence Cup at Dhaka. Ironically, Sri Lanka ignored the ICC directive and picked off-spinner Kumara Dharmasena, who was indicted along with Chauhan for a suspect bowling action. Dharamsena was included in the 14 for the first Test against Zimbabwe, but did not play
in the final eleven.
After the BCCI technical crew review the cassette, Lele said the Board
will consider the ICC offer to send Chauhan to an expert to correct his action.
The committee will also discuss the playing conditions for the forthcoming tour by
Mark Taylor's Australian team.
Lele disclosed that the Board has narrowed down the choice of a foreign physical trainer for the Indian team to two candidates. The final choice, the BCCI secretary said, has
been left to Board consultant Bob Simpson who
will arrive in India in early February. Simpson
had proposed several names for the assignment; the Board checked out the probables with some former
cricketers who trained under them abroad and short-listed the two candidates. The trainer will be entitled to an annual seven figure salary.
Ironically, it was Simpson -- the ICC match referee for the India-Sri Lanka series -- who fingered Chauhan and Dharmasena.
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