BCCI vs Lodha Panel Battle May Lead to Cancellation of NZ Series

India-New Zealand series may stand cancelled.

India-New Zealand series may be cancelled. (Photo: Altered by The Quint)

• India’s current home series vs New Zealand may be called off because the BCCI claim the Lodha Committee has forced their banks to block all transactions.
• BCCI claim this hinders money from being transferred to state associations to host the upcoming matches against New Zealand.

• Justice RM Lodha though has clarified that they didn’t tell the banks to freeze the accounts of the Board for all transactions.
  
• “Day to day affairs, routine expenditure, matches, games, that should go on. There is absolutely no prohibition,” Justice Lodha said.

The BCCI vs Lodha Committee stand-off may just make Indian cricket it’s biggest casualty. The Anurag Thakur led body is reportedly contemplating cancelling India’s ongoing home series against New Zealand, claiming that the Lodha Committee has forced their banks to block all transactions. This, the BCCI claim hinders payment to state associations for the organisation of the upcoming fixtures.

The Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee had earlier this week emailed the board's two banks – Yes Bank and Bank of Maharashtra – to block all BCCI transactions for financial decisions made at its special general meeting on 30 September.

No Question of Cancelling Games: RM Lodha

While Justice RM Lodha himself was a quoted in an interview as saying that their communication with the banks was in no way to block funds for international matches, the BCCI remained adamant that if the current stand-off continues, the entire home season may well be cancelled.

There’s no question of cancellation of any games or series. Our directive is confined to disbursement of large funds to state associations. Routine expenses are not at all restrained. BCCI accounts have not been frozen.

Justice RM Lodha, Lodha Panel Chief

We Have No Option But to Cancel, Says BCCI

The Indian Express has quoted a BCCI official as saying, "We have no option other than to call off the India-New Zealand series as our banks have decided to freeze BCCI accounts. We don’t want India to be humiliated in front of the world. How can we function, how can we hold any games now? Who will make the payment? Freezing a bank account is no joke. An international team is here, and there is so much at stake."

No Word to New Zealand Camp

Even as the board continues its battle against the Supreme Court appointed A New Zealand Cricket spokesman said they had heard nothing from the BCCI regarding the next match.

"It's the first time we've heard of it," the spokesman told local media. "At the moment we are preparing to play the third test at Indore as scheduled."