Government proposes BCCI to organise India vs Rest of the World to celebrate Independence Day
India Today
The government has sent a proposal to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to organise a cricket match on August 22 between India and the rest of the world as part of celebrations to mark 75 years of India's independence.
The Ministry of Culture has sent a proposal to the BCCI to organise a match between India and the Rest of the World as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav campaign to mark 75 years of India's independence.
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah will be in England by 24th July for the annual ICC conference and they will discuss the proposal with other boards regarding their player's availability.
The sources indicated that the Ministry of Culture, which sent the proposal, is in talks with BCCI officials to try and rope in top Indian players as well as popular cricketers from abroad to play the match as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav campaign.
BCCI sources said at this point in time, the proposal is still being discussed as there are a lot of “operational and logistical elements” associated with procuring the services of international players.
"We have received a proposal from the government to organise a cricket match between India XI and World XI on August 22. For the rest of the world squad, we would need at least 13-14 international players and their availability is something that we need to check on,” a source said.
He added during that time, English domestic cricket would be underway and the Caribbean Premier League would also begin. The BCCI is checking if international players will have to be compensated financially for their participation.
As far as the services of international cricketers are concerned, top BCCI officials will be in Birmingham for the ICC annual conference (July 22-26), where they might speak to officials of other boards to release a few of their players for the match in India.
