With the ICC threatening to take away the 2021 Champions Trophy and the 2023 World Cup if the BCCI doesn’t pay the tax incurred for hosting the 2016 World T20, former ICC chairman N. Srinivasan challenged the apex body to do so, claiming that India had nothing to lose.
Speaking at the launch of a coffee table book on India Cements and his journey with the company over five decades, Srinivasan said, “I’m told that unless India pays the tax, they can’t host the 2023 World Cup. Ok fine, we won’t play. The other countries will cry because the losers will be them, not India. We are just starting to realise how strong Indian cricket is.”
Srinivasan, the BCCI chief who was the ICC chairman from June 2014 to November 2015, lashed out at the current BCCI dispensation for squandering India’s interest in terms of revenue sharing from the ICC.
‘Big three’ model
According to a plan formulated by Srinivasan when he was at the helm of ICC, the so-called “big three financial model”, India, England and Australia were to be the biggest beneficiaries off the ICC revenue sharing agreement. The BCCI’s share was estimated to be $570 million but the ‘big three’ model was dismantled last year with the BCCI’s share reduced by $165 million to $405 million over the eight-year cycle from 2016 to 2023.
“During the last World Cup, I was the chairman of the ICC. The money raised was almost $2 billion of which $1.6 or $1.7 billion was from the Indian sub-continent. All those so-called cricket countries contributed $20 to $30 million. As India brought in more than 70% of the money, I argued that India should get at least 20 per cent,” Srinivasan said.
“But now the ‘wise men’ who represent India there are saying that I bullied ICC. Are they little children to be bullied? We have given away our rights even though the power of cricket still remains with India. But I am sure it will come back because the fabric of Indian cricket is strong. For one or two years, someone for his gain will throw away the money but it will come back.”
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