A junior member of the Indian cricket team’s support staff was accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female hotel employee in Antigua, an incident dismissed as a “case of mistaken identity” by the Board of Control for Cricket in India but mentioned in the then administrative manager’s communication with the Board.
Former team manager Sunil Subramaniam claimed that during last month’s tour of the West Indies, the team was caught in the potentially explosive situation on the sidelines of the first Test in Antigua, which was held from August 22 to 26.
In a mail to the Committee of Administrators (CoA) on September 25, Subramaniam first complained about the incident before withdrawing his assertions but with the suggestion that the accused be spoken to. A senior BCCI official told The Telegraph that it could have been the result of “an ego clash between the manager and the concerned support staff”.
“There’s no truth in it. The support staff was framed by the manager,” the senior official said. Another BCCI official acknowledged that an incident did take place in the team hotel but said it was a case of mistaken identity and the member of the support staff came out blame-free after an inquiry by Antigua Police.
“It was found out to be a case of mistaken identity. The staff with whom the alleged misbehaviour happened was shown photographs of all the support staff members but she couldn’t identify any of them,” the BCCI official said.
“Also the room number that was provided didn’t belong to any member of the Indian contingent,” he added.
Subramaniam’s tenure ended with the West Indies tour after being accused of high-handed behaviour with top officials of the Indian High Commission.