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BCCI to discuss conduct code for selectors
By M Chhaya in Kolkata
August 10, 2004 19:10 IST

The Board of Control for Cricket in India will soon expect the national selectors to adhere to a code of conduct.

The matter will be discussed at its working committee meeting in Kolkata on August 16.

According to a senior BCCI source, a draft of the code of conduct could be discussed at the meeting. It could contain restrictions on selectors' freedom in commenting on the team's or a player's performance, commentating on television or writing newspaper articles.

Players and officials accompanying the team on tours follow a code of conduct, but the senior selectors so far are not formally bound by any restriction.

The question of framing a dos-and-don'ts list for selectors has come up because often selectors have been seen to make comments on the team's performance that tend to have an adverse effect on the players.

Recently, selection committee chairman Syed Kirmani's observations on the Indian team's loss to Sri Lanka in the final of Asia Cup kicked up a controversy.

India has been repeatedly faltering in finals after displaying supremacy in the initial stages, and Kirmani reportedly ticked off captain Sourav Ganguly for the defeat.

The code of conduct is also expected to curtail a selector's freedom to interact on the media, like television commentary and newspaper column writing -- platforms used to voice opinion.

The agenda for the working committee meeting is being drawn up and the issue of code of conduct for selectors is almost certain to figure on it, the BCCI source said.

M Chhaya in Kolkata
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