The Indian cricket team may have to choose between participating in the Indian Premier League or the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 if the Lodha panel recommendations were to be implemented in full, stated president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Anurag Thakur on Monday.
Thakur made these comments in relation to a particular recommendation which calls for a 15-day gap between premier domestic Twenty20 tournament and international tournaments which India participates in.
"I don’t know whether India will be able to play Champions Trophy or not,” said Thakur to Wisden India. “If you go by the Lodha committee report, you have to play either the IPL or the Champions Trophy. So BCCI has to take a call on that. As per the Lodha committee recommendations, you have to give a 15-day window before and after IPL. There is the Australia series before IPL and Champions Trophy after it. So BCCI has to take a call whether they will play IPL or Champions Trophy".
In an interaction with the media at the Eden Gardens press box in Kolkata, Thakur also explained that they would explain to the Supreme Court why the BCCI would not be able to implement the Lodha reforms in full. The Indian cricket body has been given a deadline till October 6. In its SGM held on Saturday, it decided to adopt certain recommendations but not all.
Regarding the Decision Review System which the BCCI refuses to implement, the president mentioned that India were still eager to use it, provided it had a close to "100% accuracy rate".