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The World Cup Interview/ Jaywant Lele

'The English will have to accept our list!'

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has postponed the World Cup selection meeting, which was to take place on Saturday, February 27, to March 3, a couple of days after the deadline for submitting this list to the tournament organisers.

Faisal Shariff asked BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele why the selectors had delayed picking the 19 probables for cricket's premier event.

Mr Lele, why has the selection been delayed?

Actually, we want Azhar and Gaekwad to be there for the meeting. Now they are playing in Sri Lanka so we will have to wait for them. That is the reason why we are delaying it. The selection committee thought their views would matter a lot. That's why...

Were you not aware of this earlier, since the schedule for the Asian Test Championship had been declared well in advance?

Yes, we knew that. But we thought the fitness test of the players was going to be held side by side, so we felt it is important that the team doctors, Dr Ravindra Chadda and Dr Andrew Kokinos, also have a look at the two players.

I don't want them to blame us later, that we did not take them into confidence.

The Board has appointed Dr Anant Joshi to supervise the fitness tests for Ajit Agarkar and Vinod Kambli. Dr Joshi has already declared Agarkar fit, so how can he be authorised to okay their fitness test?

Listen, that is our prerogative, you needn't worry about all these things. Dr Anant Joshi has given the fitness certificate to Ajit, but Dr Ravindra Chadda and Dr Kokinos have yet to see them. The Board will handle that.

Has the England and Wales Cricket Board agreed to accept the list of probables since the deadline ends today?

Yes, they have to! You don't worry about all that. You just write that the team will be declared on the third of March. That's it. Don't bother about how we will do it. I don't care about the ECB. They will have to accept the submission when we give it to them.

Don't try to find out how the BCCI will get it done. And anyway, why do you all want to know how the Board functions? We have said we will do it on the third and that is when it will be done.