A host of former Indian players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, are in favour of the country taking part in the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in the United Kingdom next month, according to a report.
A report in ESPNCricinfo said that Tendulkar and Dravid are among a group of 12 former cricketers who want India to play the upcoming Champions Trophy.
The website said that Tendulkar, Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Gundappa Viswanath, Sandeep Patil, Sanjay Manjrekar, Aakash Chopra, Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Saba Karim, Murali Kartik and Deep Dasgupta are unanimous that India should attempt to defend the Champions Trophy title they won in 2013.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India is seriously mulling a pullout from the Champions Trophy despite the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators making it clear that such a decision could not be taken without its consent.
The BCCI is likely to take a decision in this regard at its special general body meeting on May 7 in New Delhi.
The doubt over India's participation in the Champions Trophy arose after the BCCI deliberately missed the April 25 deadline for submission of the squad in the wake of ICC proposing a new financial model, which reduces the Indian Board's revenues from $570 million to $293 million.
IMAGE: Sachin Tendulkar
Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com
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