BCCI and CoA believes Rahul Dravid hasn't violated any Conflict of Interest Clause

Former Indian legendary batsman and coach of India ‘A’, India U-19 and Delhi Daredevils, Rahul Dravid, has been under the firing line after the vociferous resignation letter from Ramachandra Guha. However, under the guidelines of BCCI, Dravid has not violated any clause and to question his integrity seems unfair.

Much has been talked about the existing loopholes in BCCI’s contract guidelines since the former CoA member Ramachandra Guha listed out the irregularities within the board pertaining to the superstars of Indian Cricket. Guha didn’t spare even the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar and MS Dhoni for that matter.

When it comes to Rahul Dravid, he is centrally contracted with the BCCI for coaching the India ‘A’ side as well as India U-19 team. Additionally, he is also mentoring the Delhi Daredevils squad in the Indian Premier League. A source close to CoA confronted that it unfair to point fingers at the Indian legend as he is only following the guidelines within the contract.

“While the question of conflict is fair, it is unfair to point fingers at Dravid or any other individual because there was no guideline laid down which stopped the individuals from working with an IPL team and the national team. The COA does realise that it is a case of conflict, but a solution is being worked on. So, as per the contract which Dravid had ahead of this year’s IPL, there is no case of violation,” said the source according to Cricketnext.

Having said that, CoA is working on a fresh set of guidelines which would eradicate the Conflict of Interest issue. “But yes, the COA is working on the issue as a mentor or coach of an IPL franchise might be swayed in decision-making when he is with the national team. So, it is better to keep the two entities separate.” added the source.

Dravid comes out all guns blazing

Dravid came out all guns blazing in his defence regarding the allegations. “Yes, I have written to the CoA explaining my position and explaining the background against which this perceived conflict of interest has happened,” said the Wall of Indian cricket.

“By the BCCI’s conflict of interest rules, I was absolutely not under a conflict of interest. If the rules have changed midway through the contract, then I think it is unfair to criticise me for breaking the rules or twisting the rules to suit my convenience,” augmented the 44-year old. He then concluded by stating that he isn’t the only one under the domain of the irregularity

“My simple point is that, not only me but there are five or six of us who are in the same position. There needs to be clarity. If there is clarity, we will be in a position to take an informed decision. It is disappointing the way this got played out in the public without much understanding of the background” ended Dravid. It would be interesting to see the new set of guidelines due to be framed by the CoA, thereby, increasing the transparency in the system.