Former Indian skipper and head of National Cricket Academy’s (NCA) cricket operations, Rahul Dravid has been handed a notice by BCCI’s Ombudsman-cum-Ethics Officer, Justice (Retd.) DK Jain after he received a complaint from Sanjeev Gupta, Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association’s (MPCA) lifetime member.
In his complaint, Gupta alleged that Dravid currently holds two crucial posts - he’s the NCA Director as well as the Vice President of India Cements Group, which owns Indian T20 League’s Chennai franchise.
“Yes, I have sent a notice to Mr Rahul Dravid after receiving a complaint. He has been given two weeks to reply to the allegations of ‘Conflict of Interest’. Based on his reply I will decide whether to proceed or not,” DK Jain informed PTI.
In the past as well, Gupta had filed complaints against Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman for their dual roles as Cricket Advisory Committee members and mentor of their respective Indian T20 League franchises.
Both had responded to the notice refusing that they had any conflict of interests. Both Sachin and Laxman had said that if their roles as mentor and CAC members are found to be conflicting, they were ready to quit.
Sourav Ganguly, who also had to face similar allegations for his role as CAB President and mentor of the Delhi franchise in the Indian T20 League, took to Twitter to extend his support in favour of Dravid and bash Gupta for using ‘conflict of interest’ complaints to remain in the public eye.
New fashion in indian cricket .....conflict of interest ....Best way to remain in news ...god help indian cricket ......Dravid Gets Conflict of Interest Notice from BCCI Ethics Officer https://t.co/3cD6hc6vsv.
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) August 6, 2019
Former Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh also came forth to support Dravid and went on to state that “cricket needs their services for betterment”.
Really ?? Don’t know where it’s heading to.. u can’t get better person thn him for indian cricket. Sending notice to these legends is like insulting them.. cricket need their services for betterment.. yes god save indian cricket 🙏 https://t.co/lioRClBl4l
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) August 6, 2019
Feature Image Courtesy: AFP/ Indranil Mukharjee, Sajjad Hussain
