Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar says the decision to exclude Sourav Ganguly from the team for the One-Day Internationals against Pakistan was "unanimous".
"When the selection committee took the decision they conveyed it to me. It was a unanimous decision. I don't want to interfere in the selection process," Pawar told reporters in Kolkata.
Stating that the selection committee wanted to keep the winning combination of the ODI squad intact after India's impressive performances against Sri Lanka and South Africa, Pawar said the left-hander's omission had nothing to do with any personal equation with others.
"We respect our coach [Greg Chappell], our selection committee and captain [Rahul Dravid]. I have discussed the matter in depth with Sourav, Chappell and others. There is nothing personal in it," he said, when asked if Ganguly's spat with the coach had cost him a place in the national squad.
Pawar described Ganguly's 34-run knock in the ongoing Karachi Test as "satisfactory", but parried a query on whether his showing merited a recall to the ODI team.
The BCCI chief also said he had apprised the International Cricket Council of some "practical problems" in organising the Champions' Trophy matches in Delhi and Mumbai.
Pawar, who held discussions with ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed in Delhi last week, said, "There are some practical problems in organising the matches in Delhi and Mumbai. We discussed the issues with him and hope these will be sorted out."
Asserting that India wanted to organise the Champions Trophy later this year, Pawar said, "We had some detailed discussion on the venues -- Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai."
The problem, he said, was that under ICC rules a venue for the Champions Trophy needed to be freed from any other commitment or contract to enable the sponsors earn maximum revenue.
While there was no problem with Kolkata, in Delhi there are a number of corporates having seat allocations at the stadium.
Pawar said Delhi has contracts with corporate houses that had been supporting them for long. Similarly, Tata has a significant contribution in Mumbai.
"These are contractual obligations and have to be maintained," he said.
Besides, hosting nine matches in one month in Mumbai, as was decided, would be a tough proposition and the "wickets will also not survive", Pawar said, but hoped that the problems would be sorted out.
Asked whether Ganguly's past performances are being ignored by the selection committee, he replied, "Even cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar had to retire. There are ups and downs in everybody's life."
