BCCI issues ultimatum to WICB over damages: Report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has issued an ultimatum to the West Indies Cricket Board over their team's sudden withdrawal from the tour of India in October, 2014 according to a report. The BCCI has asked WICB to pay the damages worth USD 41.97 million which the Indian cricket board has claimed as damages. BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel, in a letter addressed to WICB president Dave Cameron and the inter-governmental Caribbean community (CARICOM) secretary-general Irwin LaRocque, said the board will take legal action against them if they fail to respond within a week from receipt of this letter.

Patel has mentioned in the letter that the BCCI had agreed to the request of CARICOM who wanted a 40-day grace period to reply to India's claims, ESPNcricinfo reported on Friday. Patel, who had sent a letter on October 31 that had specified the components of the damages, had described Dwayne Bravo and his team's decision to withdraw midway from the tour as a 'monumental disaster'. One ODI, a T20I and three Tests were still to be played when the Caribbean side pulled out over contractual and pay disputes with the WICB.

LaRocque, in turn, had earlier replied to India's letter on November 14, stating the WICB's inability to compensate the financial damages and seeking more time to furnish a response.

"When CARICOM intervened in the dispute and requested BCCI to hold off on its claims for a period of 40 days from the deadline stipulated in its claim letter, the BCCI acquiesced to the same in the hope that an acceptable resolution would be achieved through CARICOM's able mediation," Patel wrote in the letter dated January 20. "However, it is with regret that the BCCI finds itself in a position where its expectations have remained wholly unfulfilled, with there being no progress in finding a solution that is acceptable to the BCCI, despite the 40-day time period having long since elapsed," it said.

With Cameron having failed to work out a plausible solution, Patel stressed that CARICOM would acknowledge the discomfort caused to the BCCI. "The BCCI cannot any longer hold off from pursuing its claims against WICB in the appropriate forum being the courts in India. We trust that CARICOM will understand our position," he wrote.

"If the WICB fails to comply with the requisitions contained in our letter dated 31st October 2014 within a period of 7 days from receipt of this letter, the BCCI shall initiate legal proceedings in the appropriate forum against WICB without further intimation," the letter said.