Insignia on Dhoni's gloves not military, BCCI to tell ICC

CoA hasn’t spoken to Dhoni about the incident, but Vinod Rai hinted that the BCCI will have a wait and watch policy before India’s next match at World Cup on Sunday.

M.S. Dhoni in action during India's World Cup warm-up match against Bangladesh.

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) chairman, Vinod Rai, admitted that they have put in a request to the International Cricket Council (ICC), asking it to allow Mahendra Singh Dhoni have the Indian Army insignia on his gloves.

After a long CoA meeting at the BCCI headquarters here on Friday, Rai made it clear that the board will '100 per cent follow' the ICC norms.

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“The ICC rules say that it (the insignia) should not have any religious, military or commercial significance. In this particular case, the insignia has none of those connotations. We are going to tell the ICC that it need not be removed, but in any case, if they feel, we will take permission,” Rai said.

“We had previously taken permission from the ICC when the camouflaged caps were given to the players. We believe in conforming to the norms of the game. ICC has a set of norms, we will go by them,” Rai said, referring to the Ranchi one-dayer against Australia, where India players had worn camouflaged army caps.

Johri's role

Earlier, there were speculations that BCCI CEO, Rahul Johri -- who will reach London by Sunday -- will take up the matter with the ICC top brass. But Rai said that Johri’s visit has got nothing to do with the Dhoni issue.

“We have already written to the ICC today morning. Johri is going for an ICC meeting and that has got nothing to do with this issue,” Rai said.

While, he admitted that the CoA hasn’t spoken to Dhoni about the incident, Rai also hinted that the BCCI will have a wait and watch policy before India’s next match against Australia on Sunday.

“We will follow the ICC norms 100 per cent...We will have to discuss with the ICC (ahead of the Australia fixture on whether Dhoni can wear the gloves). We can’t commit now. Based on the reaction, we will decide,” he said.

'Will back to the hilt'

Another member of the CoA, Diana Edulji, said that the CoA will back Dhoni. “We will back him to the hilt. Any Indian cricketer for that matter, we will back them. The BCCI is there for cricket and the cricketers,” Edulji said. “Dhoni is not a controversial person. Let us be clear on that matter...”

She, however, is confident of resolving the matter before India’s next game against Australia. “I don’t think that will be a problem. Hopefully, things will be sorted by then,” she said.

Although CoA members look confident, Sportstar understands that the tournament operations team will have to refer the matter to event technical committee, headed by Geoff Alardyce — where BCCI needs to convince and prove how the insignia is not a military symbol.