Dubai: Haroon Lorgat, the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Chief Executive, is optimistic that India will tour South Africa as scheduled in November-December after his meeting with Sanjay Patel, Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) here. The two officials met on Monday evening on the sidelines of the International Cricket Council’s Chief Executives meeting and discussed the issue.
“I am happy to say that we had a constructive meeting and I would like to thank Sanjay [Patel] for his friendliness and support in trying to find a way forward,” said Lorgat. The BCCI had protested the appointment of Lorgat as chief executive following which the tour remained unapproved. In fact, CSA stands to lose a whopping $15 million (Dh55.17 million) if BCCI sticks to their demand of not wanting Lorgat as South Africa’s chief executive, who had backed Decision Review System (DRS) and also the Woolf Governance Review against their board’s wishes while he was the ICC Chief Executive.
“After listening to Sanjay, it is clear that we will now have to wait for the BCCI’s AGM to be completed before any tour schedule can be confirmed,” said Lorgat. The BCCI AGM is scheduled to be held on September 29 in Chennai.
“It is key for all of us to make sure that the good relationship between our respective boards is maintained and, in fact, strengthened and that we also honour the proud history between our two countries,” said Lorgat.
“Our Board Presidents are also in discussion and we will now arrange for them to meet soon after the BCCI AGM,” revealed Lorgat. The itinerary, as announced by CSA in July, has three Tests, seven ODIs and two Twenty20s but India has objected to the fixture.
The ICC two-day Chief Executives’ meeting concluded yesterday with recommendations to the ICC Board meeting, scheduled to be held in London on October 17-19.
