Kolkata: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday urged the Sahara India group to return as the official sponsor of the Indian team indicating that the logo controversy would be sorted out before the 2003 World Cup. The president of the BCCI Jagmohan Dalmiya on Saturday wrote a letter to the Sahara group requesting it to reconsider its earlier decision to withdraw the sponsorship 'in the best interest of the sport'. "It is not a question of money or getting an alternative sponsor, but it is a question of patronage and support that Sahara has offered to cricket over the years that prompted BCCI to appeal," Dalmiya said. The BCCI chief also said that he had taken up the matter at the recently held Executive Board meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Colombo so that Sahara could be given a fair opportunity for the next ICC event, i.e. 2003 World Cup. "It was extremely unfair on a company that was patronising sports to such a great extent, to be elbowed out from the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 in such a manner," Dalmiya said. The withdrawal of sponsorship came as the Champions Trophy was underway and ICC even refusing to accept Sahara India's offer to replace the 'Sahara' logo with 'Subrata'. The logo issue had cropped up in the wake of the stand-off between the Indian cricketers and the ICC over the players' terms in the sponsorship agreement. The sponsorship controversy as well as logo issue were the main issues of discussion at the ICC executive board meeting in Colombo on September 30. Dalmiya's move to request Sahara to return as the Indian team's sponsor came barely five days after the ICC named him in a five-member empowered committee to deal with all issues concerning the players' terms agreement to avoid any sponsorship controversy on the eve of next year's World Cup in South Africa. Dalmiya had pointed out before the members at the meeting that two years ago in the Champions Trohpy at Nairobi, preference was given to the team sponsor's logo even if it was in conflict with ICC's sponsor, but the position was diametrically opposite during the Colombo Champions trophy. The other members of the empowered committee to deal with the issue were ICC president Malcolm Gray, its chief executive Malcolm Speed, Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chairman Bob Merriman and ICC vice-president Ehsan Mani of Pakistan. An independent member with a legal or commercial background would assist it.

Tags: cricket, kolkata, board of control for cricket in india, bcci, sahara india group, 2003 world cup, indian team, president of the bcci jagmohan dalmiya, international cricket council, icc, colombo icc champions trophy.