Even as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah said the board was open to consider any "fair representation" by players on contracts and endorsements, another top BCCI official said there would be no rethink on the two issues.Shashank Manohar, vice president, BCCI said the cricket board would neither bow to pressures from the players' agents nor succumb to legal threats."I do not think there is any scope for rethinking on the endorsement policy already announced," Manohar told PTI."The rules and conditions are set. A player may or may not accept, but it is not the BCCI's problem."Asked if the scrapped graded payment system would be brought back at a later stage, Manohar categorically said, "it will not be."At its Working Committee meeting in Mumbai yesterday, BCCI decided that a cricketer could endorse only three products and they would be paid match fees plus bonus for a series win instead of the recently introduced graded payments.Earlier in the day, captain Rahul Dravid proposed a "healthy dialogue" between the players and BCCI to "crease out the irksome issues." Reacting to Dravid's proposal, Shah said, "any fair representation by the players can always be considered by BCCI."Players, Board heading towards a dialogue on endorsementsIndia's top cricketers, stung by the sudden curtailment of their multi-crore product endorsements, and BCCI were today moving towards a dialogue on this contentious issue that has shaken the players, their agents and corporates.The players, on whom advertisements worth an estimated Rs 375 crore are riding, closed ranks but offered an olive branch through skipper Rahul Dravid who said that there was no conflict between them and BCCI.On behalf of a "number of players" he had spoken to, Dravid proposed a "healthy dialogue" with the cricket board to "crease out the irksome issues" and work out a package that could take care of the "collective interests and concerns of the BCCI and the players."Keen to avoid a showdown with players, whom it had rapped on the knuckles for their disgraceful exit from the World Cup, the board promptly welcomed Dravid's statement and said that "any fair representation by the players can always be considered."The "irksome issues" Dravid was referring to was the Board's decision yesterday not to permit more than three endorsements by a player and scrapping of the graded system of contracts under which senior players were paid more than others.These decisions by BCCI to rein in cricket's superstars, has caused a stir among the players, their business managers and sponsors. Vague threats of legal action have been voiced on behalf of the sponsors.
