Ashok Malhotra wants BCCI apex council to address ICA's demands

Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) President Ashok Malhotra urged the association representatives in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s apex council to address its concerns. Former cricketers Shanta Rangaswamy and Anshuman Gaekwad represent ICA in the apex council.



Mahotra had earlier expressed his concerns in a Facebook video a few days ago asking the board to deliver on their obligations towards the ICA.



"We are answerable to our stakeholders in the ICA, and the Apex Council members are answerable to the ICA. Three Apex Council meetings have been conducted, and these issues are not even in the minutes of those meetings,” Malhotra told ESPNcricinfo in an interview. “You talk about IPL, you talk about Bihar Cricket Association, domestic calendar, the FTP… I have nothing to do with it; it's for the BCCI to do something.”



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"I have been told by my Apex Council colleagues that they did speak to the BCCI president, but outside the meeting, not in the meeting. Outside the meeting counts for nothing. Because it's not in the agenda. It's almost ten months, and nothing has been done so far.”



ICA, India’s first players’ body, was formed last year as per recommendations of the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha panel and was approved and recognized as the official body for former cricketers.



"The Supreme Court ordered the BCCI to have an ICA, it was compulsory, and it was compulsory for them to give us funds, which they have done - they have given Rs 2 crore. We have Rs 1.35 crore in our account. No problem there. But it's become very dirty. Once you go public, you open the Pandora's Box. Hopefully we come to a compromise,” Malhotra said.



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"We have been shoved down the BCCI's throat. But whether they love us or hate us, we are here to stay. Whether anybody likes it or not, whether we can do our work or not, whether I am there or someone else, we are not under BCCI, we are not in conflict with BCCI. We are an independent entity."



The ICA wants pension for former players who played less than 25 first-class matches along with medical insurance, pension for families of deceased cricketers and the board to release benevolent fund of former cricketer Manoj Prabhakar.



"Lots of cricketers are 70, 80, they are on the last leg, how long can they wait? Anyway, the pension that is given to cricketers amounts to .54% of the overall BCCI expenditure for a year. Even if you double it, it's 1.08%. We are not asking for much,” Malhotra added.