Shashank Manohar : I'm there to protect the ICC's interests, and not BCCI's

Off lately, two of the world's biggest cricketing bodies, the International Cricket Council(ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI), have locked horns over several issues including the proposed two-tier system in Test cricket, budget for the 2017 Champions Trophy, and the allegations on ICC's President Shashank Manohar of not favouring the BCCI's interests. The ICC chief, who was in India on Thursday, faced these questions patiently and gave clear-cut answers to all of them.

Answering the question on why he is not serving India’s interests, despite being the ICC chairman from India, Manohar said, “I have to serve the ICC’s interests, because it’s my duty as the Independent Chairman of the ICC to look at the best interests of the ICC and not to promote the interests of any individual country. I have been elected by all the directors of various countries. I don't know about what anyone in the BCCI is saying. I'm there to protect the ICC's interests, and not the BCCI's,” reported ToI.

Recently, it was reported that the ICC has earmarked a budget of $135 million for the Champions Trophy 2017 in the United Kingdom, but the ICC Chief made it clear that the reports were far from the truth.

“This $135 million is a factually wrong figure that the media has reported. I don't know from where it was arrived at. The budget that has been earmarked for the Champions Trophy is $46 million, which 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,” Manohar told.

He also said that the budget allocated for the World T20 in India was more than the previously reported sum of USD 45 million. Manohar said,

“The budget for the 2016 WorldT20 was $55 million, which included the production cost too.”

It was also learnt that the ICC has shelved the idea of introducing two-tier league system in Tests at the meeting of its Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) in Dubai on Wednesday. Speaking about his stance on the two-tier league system, Manohar said, “Personally, I was against the idea, because the value of the second-tier teams would be negligible.”