That the International Cricket Council (ICC) would eventually determine a sum of around USD 400 million as BCCI’s share of ICC revenue for the 2016-23 cycle was a foregone conclusion. The ICC's independent chairman Shashank Manohar had conveyed to the BCCI office-bearers and managers during the ICC's quarterly meeting in Dubai in April that he had set aside USD 100 million in addition to the officially announced sum of USD 293 million.
The BCCI's acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary did not accept the offer because a special general meeting resolution did not give him the option to accept the money offered by the ICC. It had only given him the mandate to oppose the new governance and financial structure if the ICC did not agree to to a sum of USD 570 million or USD 610 million as per the 2014 resolution.
But at a subsequent SGM, the full members authorised Choudhary to take the matter forward with the ICC and a meeting between Manohar and Choudhary was facilitated by Abhay Apte, president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA). The three met at Apte's office in Pune on May 22 and worked out a sum of USD 405 million.
A BCCI functionary kept in the loop right through the informal talks between the BCCI and the ICC on the governance and financial matters said: “Manohar had announced at the BCCI SGM ( February 19, 2016) that the BCCI would have to take a six per cent cut from the 22 per cent offered in 2014 and that he would not allow India's share to drop below 15 per cent. So the USD 405 million agreed upon is a close estimate of what was assured at the SGM of February 19, 2016. The BCCI had adopted a resolution with the MCA president Sharad Pawar backing Manohar's strong belief that the BCCI should help out other full members because they also come to India and play Test/ODI/Twenty20 cricket and that they had supported the BCCI at ICC forums in the past.”
The BCCI voted against the governance and financial models at the ICC quarterly meeting at Dubai in February, with the CoA's Vikram Limaye nominated to the ICC Board by the Supreme Court. However, Manohar had not forgotten the assurance he had given at the SGM, according to sources, and he set aside USD 100 million taking the other ICC Board members into confidence.
The BCCI had asked for nine changes in the governance model. It is said that Manohar acceded to most of them, importantly giving the right to the members to decide on bilateral series. The assurance on the “bilateral series” aspect was given in April itself.
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