BCCI does a volte-face on Champions Trophy

New Delhi, Apr 27 (UNI) BCCI President Sharad Pawar today denied reports that India was reluctant to play in the subsequent editions of the Champions Trophy and announced the schedule of the fifth edition of the event slated from October 7-November 5.

After he signed the hosting agreement for the event with ICC President Ehsan Mani, Mr Pawar said reports that BCCI was not keen to field teams in the future editions of the tournaments were not ''authentic''.

When told that Board vice president Lalit Modi has also objected to the event cutting into the ICC calendar, Mr Pawar distanced the BCCI from the remarks and said, ''ICC finalised the event in the full knowledge of BCCI. If Mr Modi has said that, it was his personal opinion and not the Board's view.'' ICC President Ehsan Mani also said the decision to host the tournament was taken ''with full support from the BCCI'' and ruled out the prospect of this year's Champions Trophy being the last edition.

The ICC and BCCI chiefs today announced the schedule of the fifth Champions Trophy, according to which 21 matches will be played over 30 days in four venues -- Mohali, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Mumbai -- featuring 10 best teams and all the matches will be day-night affair.

Top six teams from the LG ICC ODI Championship table -- Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, New Zealand and England -- have made it to the second stage and will be joined by top two teams after a preliminary league featuring Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Mohali (Nov 1) and Jaipur (Nov 2) will host the semifinals while the final is slated on November 5 at the Cricket Club of India, Mumbai.

''This is a great opportunity for India to play host to the best cricketers from around the world after a gap of 10 years since the World Cup. This tournament is second only to the World Cup in terms of prestige and with a new format,I hope it to be the most competitive Champions Trophy to date,'' Mr Mani said.

''We were keen to have it earlier and the then BCCI President AC Muthaiya was also interested to host it here in 2002 but tax complications deferred it and I thank the Government of India for granting tax exemption.'' ''The fund generated from the event is distributed among our 85 Associate and Afficliated member countries for development of the game and after this edition, we are hoping to earn 65 million dollars from the event,'' he added.

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