Chief cricket selector Dilip Vengsarkar wants to step down following his stand off with the BCCI which has banned him from writing newspaper columns, but has been told not to do so in view of the upcoming team selection for the important tour of Australia and the third Test against Pakistan.
The 51-year-old former Indian captain met the BCCI President Sharad Pawar yesterday in Kolkata during the second Indo-Pak Test and expressed his willingness to quit, BCCI Vice-President Rajiv Shukla said in New Delhi on Sunday.
"He (Vengsarkar) wants to step down. He had spoken to BCCI President Sharad Pawar last evening and expressed willingness to step down," Shukla told PTI.
"But the Board's view is that on December 5 we have a meeting of the selection committee to select the squad for the Australia tour, which is more important than personal issues.
"The national interest is more important, he should first focus on that and personal issues can be discussed later," Shukla added.
Asked why Vengsarkar offered to resigned in the middle of a series when things were more or less settled between him and the Board, Shukla said there were different opinions on the seven-point guidelines issued to the selectors.
"There are certain issues on which he has got a different point of view like the guidelines which have been issued about not writing the column and about the selectors going to watch the matches," Shukla said.
"So all this put together and these guidelines, he is not happy about it. But BCCI has these guidelines for ages. It is conventional and prevailing for all these years. We cannot flout the rules and regulations.
"Every selector is expected to stick to those guidelines. No selector has ever written any column so how can you make exception for one person," he added.
Asked if selectors were also upset about BCCI shifting the team selection from Tuesday to Wednesday without
consulting them, Shukla said these were minor matters.
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