Champions trophy - the sequel

Right on cue, the ICC used the occasion of CT launch to emphasize its importance. Mr Mani also went on to say

"Don't kid yourself," Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, told the media announcing the schedule for the month-long tournament in New Delhi. "Australia have never won this tournament before and are determined to win this one. They will send their best team."

Right, if he says so, we would take it at the moment. Although the noises coming out of the Aussie camp (plus the surprisingly low popularity of even the WC, leave alone the CT, amongst the Aussie public) indicate otherwise. But, I guess, we'll wait for October on this one.

And in related news Pawar, apparently after meeting Mani and other ICC officials at the occasion of CT launch, announced that BCCI is not *against* CT as long as their is consensus amongst the members (to which, obviously, BCCI themselves are going to pose one challenge).

This softening of stance came after the Indian board had earlier opposed the scheduling of the Champions Trophy in October. "We're not free in October in 2007, 2008 or 2009," Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president, had said in January. "We have made our position clear to the ICC many times. If others want to play, they can, but why should we play in October? We've not signed any agreement to play in future editions and we've made our position very clear to the ICC many times."

But Pawar said that Modi's comments, including those that the BCCI could earn more by playing a bilateral series rather than the Champions Trophy, were "his personal view. It is not the view of BCCI.

Now this is downright confusing, to say the least. Mr Pawar is obviously busy enough not to be involved in everyday affairs of the BCCI, and most definitely not willing or able to provide the regular soundbytes (and actual updates) to the hungry Indian media. Which is why Modi, Shah and virtually every board official gets more than a fair share of their time under the sun. That, IMO, is the root of this confusion. Mr Pawar, Time to appoint a permanent media manager/spokesperson for ALL official releases of BCCI? And just for the record, does this also mean that whatever Modi says anytime, from now on, are his personal views? Or does he have mutiple masks, and we should get into a guessing game as to the ownership of the views?