/ 14 December 2011

Former India captain says cricket board owes him $1m

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar says he is “shaken and baffled” by his national cricket board’s refusal to pay his $1-million fees per season for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Gavaskar says the cash-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) owes him the money for serving on the governing council of the glitzy Twenty20 league for the first three seasons from 2008 to 2010.

He said the money was promised to him by the then IPL chief Lalit Modi, who was subsequently sacked by the BCCI after the third season on charges of financial irregularities.

“The BCCI has made a U-turn on my contract,” Gavaskar told the NDTV news channel. “I am baffled after reading reports that the BCCI has refused to pay me my dues.

“My faith in the BCCI has been shaken.”

The IPL, which features leading players from around the world in a franchise-based contest, is facing a government probe into financial mismanagement and money laundering.

The BCCI has declined to comment on Gavaskar’s demand.

The fifth edition of the IPL is due to start next April. — AFP