BCCI Ethics Officer DK Jain Thursday ruled that Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman holding twin jobs of being Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) members and mentors with IPL franchises amounts to conflict of interest and the two former players will have to make a choice.
While Laxman is a mentor for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Ganguly holds the same position with the Delhi Daredevils franchise besides being the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal.
“One person one post is the soul of Lodha committee recommendations. I have just tried to bring it out. In Sachin’s (Tendulkar), the conflict of interest did not arise as he had withdrawn from CAC. But it does in Ganguly and Laxman’s case and they need to decide how they would like to serve Indian cricket going forward,” Jain told PTI.
Tendulkar is a mentor for another IPL franchise Mumbai Indians. All the three legendary cricketers had contested the allegation of conflict of interest and Laxman had even offered to step down from the CAC during his deposition.
Jain, who was appointed by the Supreme Court in February, also touched on the subject of active players such as Robin Uthappa and Irfan Pathan doing commentary at the ongoing World Cup.
“Based on this order there could be complaints against active players also. They can now apply their mind and be ready for that situation. I have not barred anybody (from commentating). I have only decided what Conflict of Interest means as per the BCCI constitution.”
