VVS Laxman, New Zealand vs India 2020, Wellington Test
VVS Laxman (Credits - Twitter)

Former India cricketer VVS Laxman has lashed out at Committee of Administrators (CoA), condemning the allegations of conflict of interest against him for being a part of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) apart from his role as a mentor of the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Laxman along with his former India teammates Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly was served the notice as the BCCI ombudsman sought an explanation on the trio’s dual role.

Alleging complete lack of communication from the Vinod Rai-led panel, Laxman said that the COA has been using the CAC only for selection of senior national coaches despite promising a broader role earlier. Laxman, who was known for his calm demeanour on the cricket field, gave an aggressive rebuttal on the allegations of ‘Conflict of Interest’ while concluding that he is ready to “recuse” if found conflicted.

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“On December 7, 2018, we had written to the the Committee of Administrators requesting them to clarify the scope of our role and responsibilities. To this date, there has been no reply. Since no tenure had been mentioned in the letter of intent issued in 2015, it was only reasonable to expect some communication on whether the CAC was still in existence. Unfortunately that hasn’t been forthcoming,” Laxman wrote in his affidavit according to India Today.

Sanjay Manjrekar, Head Coach
CAC was appointed in the year 2015 (Credits – AFP)

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Both Laxman and Tendulkar were sought explanations for conflict of interest after notices were served to them by an Ombudsman following a complaint from Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association’s (MPCA) life member Sanjeev Gupta for their dual role as mentors of Sunrisers and Mumbai Indians respectively apart from being members of the CAC. Before Laxman, Tendulkar had responded by saying that he is not receiving any money from Mumbai.

On the other hand, Laxman has written:

“It will be worthwhile to note that the reason I agreed to be a member was because of the various inputs we were originally tasked with contributing towards the sustained growth of Indian cricket. The opportunity to be involved meaningfully in India’s climb towards becoming a cricketing superpower post retirement was privilege enough for me to turn down the offer of remuneration of being a part of CAC.”

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“The allegation of the complainant are baseless as we are in no manner selectors of either players or coaches and CAC is not a permanent body,” he added.

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VVS Laxman, ICC World Cup 2019 squad
VVS Laxman (Credits: Getty Images)

He further said that in 2015 when he was asked to be part of the CAC, he was told that the scope of the role of the committee would be to focus on improving overseas performances of the national team. The role was also to create a pathway to track a young cricketer’s career from U-19 to India A to the international team. However, he has claimed that the trio has not been asked for any input on the aforementioned topics.

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“…none of the CAC members has (sic) been called on to give our opinion on any subjects except to be invited to be involved in the selection of national coaches and, once, the selection of junior national selectors. However, this is by no means a regular process and I am in no manner to be considered a selector,” wrote VVS Laxman.

The legendary batsman concluded by urging the ombudsman to review the “Conflict of Interest clause from the perspective of whether in the performance of my duties as a CAC member, I am being influenced by external factors. It is my respectful submission that when I am barely required to discharge any duties as a member of the CAC.”

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