NEW DELHI: India's cricket chiefs could take “serious action” against the West Indies, including possibly refusing to play a return series, for abandoning their tour because of an internal payment dispute, a top official said Saturday.
The West Indies cut short the tour of India on Friday even though a fifth one-day international, a Twenty20 match and three Tests still remained to be played.
“What has happened is very disappointing and calls for serious action,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel said. “We want to take adequate measures to ensure such a thing is not repeated.”
The BCCI's decision-making working committee will meet in Hyderabad on Monday to take stock of the situation, he added. Asked if refusing to tour the West Indies in future was an option, Patel said: “Everything will be taken into consideration.”
According to the International Cricket Council's Future Tours Programme, India are scheduled to tour the Caribbean during February and March 2016 to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 international.
Also read: Drama as West Indies pull out of India tour
Patel has drawn the line at barring players from the West Indies from taking part in the cash-rich Indian Premier League, according to a report in the Mumbai-based Mid-Day newspaper. “Our problem is with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and not their players,” Patel told the newspaper.
Current one-day captain Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine are among the top West Indies cricketers who play in the glitzy IPL Twenty20 tournament. A WICB statement issued late Friday said it was the players' decision to withdraw their services for the remainder of the tour.
Skipper Bravo had said before the start of the tour on October 8 that the players had not accepted the payment agreement signed on their behalf by the West Indies Players Association. But the players took the field for three one-dayers in Kochi, New Delhi and Dharamsala, while one match in Visakhapatnam was cancelled due to a severe storm on India's east coast.
The WICB statement said it had warned the BCCI the tour was “under a cloud of uncertainty from the inception” as a result of “postulations” by the players.
Bravo, speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony on Friday night, said: “It's been tough for us on tour ... Everyone is sticking together, despite what's going on. “We look forward to representing the West Indies again some time soon.”
The BCCI, one of the richest boards in world cricket, announced is had finalised a five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka to take place in India between November 1 and 15 to replace the cancelled tour.
