Anil Kumble backs BCCI president Sourav Ganguly's plan to revisit 'conflict of interest' clause

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had time and again said that the conflict of interest issue has been a big concern and one of his foremost priorities during his tenure would be to revisit the provisions of the conflict of interest clause in BCCI's new constitution. Now, Ganguly has found support in another former Indian captain Anil Kumble. In an interview with CricketNext, Kumble said that in its present form, the provisions of the clause are restrictive, not allowing former cricketers to contribute to the system.

"I'm of the firm belief that you need to look at the conflict of interest clauses because as it stands, you can't have any cricketer come in and do anything," Kumble said.

File photo of Anil Kumble. PTI

Rule 38(4) of the newly amended BCCI constitution identifies 16 roles wherein "no individual may occupy more than one". The said clause has prevented the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly himself, from contributing to the system in various capacities, as they have been served notices by the BCCI ethics officer in recent times. Ganguly believes that the current rules don't allow the best former cricketers to serve in positions where their expertise is invaluable. Anil Kumble endorses his former teammate's views.

"I think the other thing also is the education around the conflict of interest clause. That's something that Sourav and his team will be looking at. Yes, one is to look at the clauses and try and re-jig, to have a better sense of what's applicable in the corporate world, the same to be applicable in the cricketing world," said Kumble. "The other thing is the awareness around conflict of interest in cricket. I think that's somewhere where there's a lot of misrepresentation, about how it's all being dealt with and that's something that needs to be cleared as well."

On Sourav Ganguly's appointment as the BCCI president, Anil Kumble said that it was an "ideal" step while acknowledging Ganguly's ability at managing people, first as a captain, then in the Cricket Association of Bengal, and now as BCCI chief.

"Having an administrative responsibility and the experience of running an association, for 3-5 years, I think certainly will come in handy. The challenges are very different, you need to be hands-on and Sourav has done that with Bengal cricket," said Kumble. "I'm hopeful that in his tenure, we'll see some wonderful initiatives. He's already spoken about making sure that the focus is on domestic cricket, and that's something I'm sure Dada will be looking into. He’s certainly looked at all the key issues. He knows it, he's been a player of repute for a long period of time."