BCCI goes back on its decision, keeps Subramaniam for West Indies tour

New Delhi: The BCCI on Wednesday went back on its decision to call back the national team’s administrative manager Sunil Subramanium after he tendered “an unconditional apology” for misbehaving with senior officials from the country’s High Commissions in the West Indies.

In what could have been a first in Indian cricket, the BCCI had contemplated calling back the manager midway from the ongoing tour, but Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai let him off with a severe reprimand following his apology.

“Sunil Subramaniam didn’t know that it was a request from the government of India. I had initially thought of recalling him back but in the evening, after he tendered an unconditional apology, I have decided to keep him for the remainder of the tour,” Rai told PTI.

“He will complete this tour as I have now accepted his apology,” Rai added.

Earlier, Subramanium was sent flight tickets for bringing him back at the earliest. He had indulged in high-handedness while dealing with senior Indian Foreign Service officers, a top BCCI official told PTI. The IFS officials had reached out to him with the government’s request for a video shoot by players to promote ‘water conservation’.

“The Indian team had a fairly long shoot on ‘Water Conservation’ project and he needed to oversee that. Once that was over, he was sent an e-mail instructing him to choose the earliest available flight options,” the senior Board official had said.

It remains to be seen whether Subramanium, who is a shortlisted candidate for the administrative manager’s interview, will get a chance to appear for it or not.

The former Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner has offered an unconditional apology for his alleged misbehaviour with officials from the Indian High Commissions in Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago.

It has been learnt that Subramanium cited stress as the reason for his alleged misbehaviour.

“In his apology, he has said that he was sleep deprived and under stress which resulted in poor behaviour. He has apologised unconditionally. But you have to understand that the matter had reached the highest levels of the government and the BCCI can’t be seen doing nothing on the matter,” the official had said earlier.

Subramanium was also accused of repeatedly avoiding calls from senior government officials and then the BCCI brass.

“When a very senior person from Indian High Commission in Trinidad & Tobago called up Subramanium seeking his co-operation, he told him ‘Don’t flood me with messages’. The BCCI has come to know that he refused to entertain their calls when all they were doing was to carry out the government’s directive,” a senior official had said on Wednesday.

The 52-year-old Subramanium, a former coach of Ravichandran Ashwin, has played 74 first-class games and taken 285 wickets.