The West Indies team might have put off its 'strike' plan as of now, but the players continued to protest against the payment dispute with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) by wearing black armbands in the second One-day International against India, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
The Dwayne Bravo-led side had threatened to pull out of the five-match ODI series before the opening match in Kochi but after a 124-run resounding victory at the Nehru Stadium and with some intervention by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the players decided to carry on with the series.
Even the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) thanked the BCCI and lauded the players for not only acting wisely but also proving their worth by humbling a strong India ODI side in their own backyard.
Bravo and company had demanded WIPA president Wavell Hinds' resignation alongwith other officials because of conflict of interest regarding payment issues.
In a letter to Hinds, Bravo said that the players have lost confidence in the president because of the Memorandum of Understanding he signed with the WICB on their behalf in which WIPA agreed to massive pay cuts.
In response, Hinds explained his position in a letter to Bravo.
West Indies are scheduled play to five ODIs, one-off Twenty20 International and three Test matches during their ongoing tour of India.
Angry West Indies players want WIPA disbanded
Disgruntled with its Players Association due to an ongoing pay dispute, the West Indian team sought the Cricket Board's "urgent intervention" to dissolve the body as it no longer had the "authority to speak" on the side's behalf.
The Caribbean side, which is currently playing an ODI series against India in New Delhi, had threatened to go on strike on the eve of the ongoing five-match series due to the new contracts handed to the players, which would have seen their salaries drop by 75 per cent.
West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo has written to WICB president Dave Cameron, asking for the WIPA to be dissolved as the team feels "hoodwinked" by the manner in which it agreed to the new contracts without consulting the players.
"We write to you to make a conscience appeal to fair play and justice and to seek your urgent intervention in helping to remedy the emerging impasse between ourselves and the West Indies Cricket Board," Bravo wrote in the letter published by ESPNCricinfo.
"It is our view, given the circumstances of the formulation and finalising of this agreement, the WIPA Board needs to do the right thing and resign. We wish to formerly advise you that WIPA has no authority to speak on our behalf … We will advise you of the person or persons entrusted with the responsibility to act on our behalf shortly.
"As you may be aware, we have demonstrated much restraint in this matter in trying to get our former representatives (WIPA) to fix this travesty but unfortunately this has not occurred. We are hopeful that, with your intervention, the matter can be resolved without public or other recourse. In the meantime we will continue to seek advice."
Bravo said that to continue with the series is an "an act of good faith" by his team and should not be seen as acceptance of the new contracts.
"Our decision to play in India was in no way intended to convey an acceptance by the players of the unreasonable terms and conditions put forward to us by WICB nor was it intended as an expression of our acceptance of the purported new Memorandum of Understanding," the letter stated.
"We believe this to be a sensible and reasonable option in the interim, while we negotiate new terms and conditions that have been properly ventilated," he wrote.
