Rahul Dravid has been asked to appear before BCCI ethics officer Justice (retired) DK Jain for the second time. The NCA head will have to provide “further submissions and clarifications” over the conflict of interest issue to Jain on November 12.
A BCCI source revealed to PTI, “Jain wrote to Dravid on Wednesday night, asking him to depose on November 12 in New Delhi. Gupta too will be heard.” Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association life member Sanjiv Gupta who had initially filed the complaint against Dravid, will also attend the hearing.
Rahul Dravid was appointed as the National Cricket Academy director when he was fulfilling the duties of a vice-president with India Cements. The company owns the Chennai Super Kings, an IPL franchise and the league is run by the Indian cricket board. So Gupta had accused Dravid of the conflict of interest. Post that Dravid had already appeared before the ethics officer and explained how he had taken leave of absence from the India Cements job and was not involved with the Super Kings in any capacity.
Throughout 2019, Gupta has raised questions against the former players like of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Ganguly and Dravid, Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy for various cases of potential conflict of interest. Interestingly the newly elected BCCI president Sourav Ganguly raised his voice regarding the same earlier. He clearly said on October 14, “Conflict is an issue. Whether you will actually get the best cricketers in the [BCCI] system, I am not sure because they will have other options to avail. Because if they [former players] come into the system and not get to do what is their livelihood, it is very difficult for them to be part of this system and make a difference.”
He further opined, “Look at all the appointments that have happened in various forms whether it is the NCA or CAC or the appointment of batting coaches, fielding coaches, there has been an issue with everything… commentators, IPL. This needs to be sorted as it is another very serious issue in Indian cricket.”