ICC is my first priority not BCCI, says Shashank Manohar

ICC chairman Shashank Manohar admits that his first priority is to protect the interests of the world governing body rather than protecting India’s interest. The recent fiasco which revolved around the proposed two-tier structure raised many questions about the relations between the ICC and the BCCI.

The Indian Cricket board along with Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka rejected ICC’s two-tier structure plans in the future on grounds that the smaller nations might not gain if such a format is introduced. After the two-tier Test proposal was reject, the ICC have proposed a new format of staging a Test Championship along with an ODI league.

There is a sense of suspicion in the air that Manohar is not protecting India’s interest in the governing body. In an interview with The Times of India, the ICC official was asked to shed some light about the matter, and the former BCCI President said, “As an independent chairman of the world body, I'm there to protect the ICC's interests, and not the BCCI's.”

It was previously learnt that the BCCI was not happy to hear about the fact that they were allocated only $ 45 million for organising the 2016 ICC Word T20 while England would be given $ 135 million for hosting the ICC Champions Trophy next year. But, Manohar admitted that the $135 million number was a ‘factually wrong figure’, he said, “This $135 million is a factually wrong figure.

Manohar revealed details about the budget, “The budget for the 2016 World T20 was $55m, which included the production cost too. The budget for the Champions Trophy is $46m, which also includes the production cost for the event. You must remember that the cost of accommodation and travel is much more in England than in India.”

The BCCI clearly stated that it is not in favour of a two-tier Test hierarchy and being the richest board of the ICC, they demanded attention, though, it is rumoured that Shashank Manohar always backed the ICC’s proposed Test structure.

When asked about the matter, he said, “I had made it clear at the ICC meeting of Chief Executives (CECs) and the Board of Directors in Edinburgh that since this involved an issue regarding bilateral series rights, it shouldn't be discussed on the ICC platform.”

“The ICC only acted as a facilitator while organising an informal meeting of representatives of the countries in Dubai, which wasn't attended by CECs. We didn't pay for the expenses towards that meeting. Personally, I was against the idea, because the value of the second-tier teams would be negligible,” he added.