Disappointed Anurag Thakur says 'cricket can't run without money'

The BCCI chief also said that the BCCI's bank accounts have been frozen completely

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Anurag Thakur on Tuesday reiterated that it would be difficult to continue with the ongoing series against New Zealand since the board is not in a position to do any financial transactions.

While insisting that the BCCI's bank accounts have been frozen completely, Thakur said the series can only proceed if the players and state association agree to participate without taking any fees.

"Cricket cannot go ahead without money. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) doesn't take money from the Indian Government. It is very disappointing that the bank accounts of the BCCI have been frozen. The banks were asked not to allot us money," Thakur told the media.

 

The 41-year-old said that it was extremely shameful to see the board being questioned for raising the salaries of the players despite their impressive performances.

"On one hand, our Test team climbs to the number one spot in rankings while on the other hand if we try to increase the fees of the players from 7 lakhs to 15 lakhs then such things become questionable. When we talk about allotting money to state associations to arrange matches then they restrain us from doing so," he said.

"So, it is a very unfortunate situation for the BCCI. It is now up to the state associations whether they will be able to conduct matches or not because our bank accounts are sealed. If the players don't get paid, the state associations don't get paid to arrange matches and other necessary payments will not be made then it will be difficult to continue with the series," Thakur concluded.

Earlier, there were reports that the BCCI had been contemplating to call off the ongoing series between India and New Zealand after Justice (Retd) R M Lodha-led panel had ordered to freeze the bank accounts of the board.

However, Justice (Retd) Lodha has said that his panel did not ask the banks to block the BCCI's accounts while clarifying that the banks had only been directed to restrain the disbursement of large funds by the country's cricket board to the state associations.

Justice (Retd) Lodha further insisted that routine expenses for matches, games, cricketing activity and another administrative matter were not put on hold.

India and New Zealand are slated to play the third Test in Indore from Saturday before the two sides head into a five-match ODI series.