Rajeev Shukla defends BCCI's disciplinary regulations for the IPL

IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla said the BCCI has always taken strict action on issues related to the league

IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla has defended the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) stance on the Indian Premier League (IPL), IBNLive reports. The senior board official remained sceptical about the India-Pakistan series scheduled for December this year while he lauded India team director Ravi Shastri for the team’s recent performances.

The IPL has been a runaway success on the field, but it has attracted a host of controversies in equal measure over the years, with the spot-fixing scandal being the most significant one yet. Investigations into the matter have led to the suspension of the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals while life bans have been imposed on the team supremos, Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra respectively.

The future of India’s premier T20 competition is likely to be decided in the next Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BCCI but Shukla is adamant that the board has taken the appropriate measures to keep the league safe from any such issues.

"When you start something controversies and allegations are bound to be there. IPL is a big event. People watch IPL all over the world as it is being telecast in 152 countries. So there is bound to be some issues,” Shukla said. “But the question is if there are issues or allegations how quickly corrective steps are taken and how tough steps are taken. That is important.”

He added the BCCI have always taken action on matters which are under their control.

We at BCCI are taking strict action if such cases are brought to light. We can't look at what a person is doing in his room, what a person is doing in the confines of his house. We can't keep surveillance on people," he added.

Shukla offers no guarantee on India-Pakistan series

Shukla also had his say on the India-Pakistan series scheduled to take place in the UAE later this year. The chances of the series going ahead as planned looks grim and Shukla seemed to echo the same thoughts.

“Right now, I can't say anything. There are some issues and these issues have to be sorted out. Once these issues are sorted out then only we can think about it. Our policy is that bilateral matches should be played in each other's soil. Still that's our focus. For these, we need to take the permission of the government also because the security issue is also there," he said.

Praise for Ravi Shastri

Shukla said that Shastri deserved his recent contract extension

The BCCI recently confirmed the extension of team director Ravi Shastri’s tenure until the end of the 2016 T20 World Cup and Shukla praised the former all-rounder who recently oversaw India’s first overseas Test series victory since 2011.

"Basically, the coaching job is done by Ravi Shastri and he has been asked to continue till the World T20. Shastri has been entrusted with the job and the players are also happy with him. I think he is doing a very good job and he can continue," Shukla said. "If anything needs to be done, the advisory committee comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman will be taking a decision what exactly should be done."