Sambaran Banerjee

Calcutta: The working committee of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) on Friday decided to write to former CAB president Prasun Mukherjee seeking clarification on the huge amount spent by the association while hosting the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.

“We have decided to send a letter to the former CAB president asking whom we should write to in an effort to recover the huge amount the association spent during the IPL matches,” CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya said at a news conference.

According to him, it’s not clear as to “who is supposed to repay the amount to the state association… whether it’s the IPL governing body, the franchisee (Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd) or the Kolkata Knight Riders.

“We are yet to get the details of the amount and an expenditure of about Rs 7.26 crore has to be met... We shouldn’t run out of money. Recently, we’ve got a letter from the Kolkata Knight Riders, and today we have decided to write to Mukherjee to give us the accounts summary so that we can recover it,” Dalmiya said.

Besides Mukherjee, a copy of the letter will also be sent to the two former joint secretaries — Samar Paul and Amitava Banerjee — and former treasurer Tushar Sarkar.

Incidentally, the CAB had earlier written to the Kolkata Knight Riders seeking the details of the expenditure. It was learnt that the franchisee has forwarded the letter to the IPL governing council and the CAB has extended the deadline for recovery of the amount from Knight Riders to November 5.

Talking about the renewal of the Eden Gardens lease, Dalmiya said: “We expect to get the renewal by October. The details of the lease — whether it will be for 15 year or 20 years — will be known after we get it.”

Meanwhile, former Bengal captain and former national selector Sambaran Banerjee was named the state senior selection committee chairman by the working committee. The other members of the panel are Saradindu Mukherjee, Kalyan Chowdhury and ex-skipper Devang Gandhi.

Barun Burman was named the chairman of the junior selection committee which also includes Sumit Shome, Farashatullah and Dipankar Sarkar. Mithu Mukherjee will lead the women’s selection committee. Vice-presidents Arijit Roy and Shib kumar Kalyani will head the junior tournament committee and membership committee, respectively.

“It feels nice that they have shown their confidence in my abilities. I respect their view and will do my best for the improvement of Bengal cricket,” said Sambaran Banerjee.

According to Devang, his sole aim will be to see Bengal back in the Ranji Trophy Elite group. “I know it’ll be a tough job. But I will give everything to see Bengal back to the Elite group,” Devang said.

The working committee, on the day, also renamed the Challenger meet as the Snehanshu Acharya Challenger Trophy (SK Acharya Trophy). The winners will bag Rs 1.5 lakh while the man of the match and man of the series will receive Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000, respectively.

The CAB has also decided to hike the monthly medical allowance of the former Bengal first class players (above 60 years) from the existing Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500.

CAB SELECTION PANELs

Senior
Sambaran Banerjee, Saradindu Mukherjee, Kalyan Chowdhury, Devang Gandhi

Junior
Barun Barman, Sumit Shome, Dipankar Sarkar, Farashatullah