I WON'T TALK:  Niranjan Shah

WHILE the BCCI have barred VVS Laxman and Piyush Chawla from playing county cricket since they will rub shoulders with the rebel Indian Cricket League players, wonder what they will do to defend the participation of Sachin Tendulkar, who played alongside ICL stars in his short stint for Lashings XI recently. When MiD DAY contacted BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah last night, he refused to comment on the issue. He also said it was too late in the night (10.10 pm) to make a comment.

PTI reported last night that Tendulkar played in a squad which included former India teammate Dinesh Mongia and New Zealand all-rounder Chris Harris. While the Board's decision to stop Chawla and Laxman from pursuing their county commitments came after Tendulkar's stint, this sure comes as a googly for the Board who have been accused of being high-handed in tackling the county issue. This paper termed it as DADAGIRI (July 18, 2008).