Asia Cup | Virat Kohli’s exclusion causes rift between BCCI and broadcaster

After some consistent performances from an individual point of view in England across all three series, Kohli has been handed a rest, by the BCCI, for the ongoing 15-day Asia Cup tournament, which involved a high-intense game against arch-rivals - Pakistan. However, Kohli’s absence has led to a rift between the BCCI, it’s commercial partners and also the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

Earlier, the host broadcaster, Star Sports, wrote to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) as they felt that India did not field their best team for the Asian showpiece. But BCCI CEO, Rahul Johri, made it clear to the ACC that the broadcaster cannot decide or dictate selection policies as far as the Indian team was concerned.

“Please also take note that selection of the best available team for participation in a tournament is the sole prerogative of the selection committee of BCCI. It is not open for Asian Cricket Council or its broadcaster to insist on selection of any particular player and/or to question the expert opinion of the selection committee as to which is the best available team for a particular tournament. Needless to add, this email is being issued without prejudice to BCCI’s rights and contentions in law, all of which are expressly reserved,” Johri wrote to ACC’s Thusith Perera, in a mail accessed by Hindustan Times.

“In our view, this announcement about the absence of one of the world’s best batsmen from this edition of the Asia Cup, only 15 days before the commencement of the Asia Cup, is a serious dent to us (the event broadcaster) and will severely impact our ability to monetize and generate revenues from the tournament,” Star wrote to ACC official Perera.