Calcutta: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) finally intervened, through manager Biswarup Dey, to force an end to the ‘war’ between captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and vice-captain Virender Sehwag.

According to a source with close ties to the BCCI, Dey convened a meeting at the team hotel (Sheraton On The Park) in Sydney, on Thursday afternoon, and made it clear that misunderstandings, if any, must be sorted out immediately.

It’s understood that besides Dey, Dhoni and Sehwag, senior-most pro Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and media manager G.S. Walia were present, in the designated team room at the five-star property. The meeting lasted for “around 20 minutes.”

Significantly, coach Duncan Fletcher wasn’t invited.

“Being the BCCI’s man on-the-spot, Dey had to play a key role and he emphasised that the past is past and that every single player should now only focus on the two league matches which remain in the tri-series...

“The four seniors responded positively, with Dhoni and Sehwag having a brief one-on-one in the very room where the meeting took place...

“All have realised that the team has to move forward as a family, has to be united... Also, that utterances in public don’t solve anything,” the well-connected source told The Telegraph.

It’s to be seen if a 20-minute meeting works wonders, but one can expect Dhoni and Sehwag to show restraint when tackling questions from the media.

Nobody expects them to become the best of friends overnight, but Sehwag needs to remember that Dhoni is the captain. Not of a mohallah team, but India, and a certain protocol has to be observed.

Through Dey, the BCCI may even have given a warning of sorts to the principal characters, but that couldn’t be confirmed till late in the evening. Dey didn’t take calls.

Dey is a joint-secretary in the Cricket Association of Bengal, while Walia is a senior office-bearer of the Punjab Cricket Association.

Some in the BCCI are of the view that either Dhoni or Sehwag or both should jointly address a press conference, on Friday, but no advisory had been put out by Walia.

“Either one of them or both must put the record straight in person... Till that’s done, talk of differences and ‘camps’ within the team is unlikely to end,” somebody senior observed.

It’s unclear if the rotation policy (which led to the slanging match), introduced by Dhoni and Fletcher, will be dumped.

Obviously, Sehwag’s thoughts on the issue are very different and, to make a point, he didn’t rest any senior batsman on Tuesday, when he was the stand-in captain.

From topping the tri-series table, world champions India are now at the bottom. Our next match is on Sunday, against Australia. After that is the February 28 face-off versus Sri Lanka.

Unless there’s an immediate turnaround, one can forget about the best-of-three finals, beginning March 4.