Former Indian cricket legend Rahul Dravid handed conflict of interest notice

Former Indian cricket legend and current Head Cricket of National Cricket Academy Rahul Dravid has been sent a conflict of interest notice by BCCI's Ethics Officer.

Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) life member Sanjeev Gupta registered a complaint on Rahul Dravid and this acted upon by BCCI's Ombudsman-cum-Ethics Officer DK Jain.

The complaint was based on the fact that Dravid was not only working at the NCA but also employed by India Cements, the owner of popular Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings.

"Yes, I have sent a notice to Mr Rahul Dravid last week after receiving a complaint. He has been given two weeks to reply to the allegations of Conflict of Interest. Based on his reply, I will decide whether to proceed further or not," Justice Jain confirmed the development to PTI.

Rahul Dravid is expected to file his reply by August 16 which might be then followed by a direct hearing if Justice Jain deems it necessary.

Dravid isn't the first person to be called up for such conflict of interest allegations given that other former star cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly also had to face the same situation.

While Tendulkar and Laxman were pulled up by Gupta himself, allegations against Ganguly were levelled by Bhaswati Santua, who is a Bengal resident.

The problems for Tendulkar and Laxman came to the picture because they were both part of the previous Cricket Advisory Committee while also having mentor roles with their IPL franchises Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad. In reply, both of them refused such allegations.

On the other hand, Ganguly, who is popularly known as 'Dada', currently occupies two roles as both the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President and mentor for Delhi Capitals. Predictably, Ganguly also replied saying that he didn't have any conflict of interest as he is part of any BCCI organisation.

Meanwhile, the 47-year-old Ganguly tweeted in a frustrated manner after news broke about conflict of interest notice against Dravid.

New fashion in indian cricket .....conflict of interest ....Best way to remain in news ...god help indian cricket ......Dravid Gets Conflict of Interest Notice from BCCI Ethics Officer https://t.co/3cD6hc6vsv.

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) August 6, 2019

It remains to be seen as to whether Dravid will reply to these allegations in the same manner as Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly did or instead, resigns from one of his posts.