Off-colour pacer Irfan Pathan conceded he hasnt performed well enough to merit selection in the Indian One-day team but vowed to make a comeback, saying he has age on his side.
Talking to reporters with elder brother Yusuf by his side at a promotional event here this afternoon, the 24-year-old junior Pathan said, I have been ignored purely on the basis of my drop in performance and I am working hard towards it.
Irfan, however, said it was disappointing to be ignored for next months Tri-series in Sri Lanka and the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa. For the last six years, if I have done slightly bad, Im getting dropped. But I dont have any excuse. Im not a person who runs for an excuse .
Its very simple, if I am dropped then something is wrong somewhere . Reason is always performance … Obviously the selectors felt, Im not up to the mark so Ive to work hard and go to that level, Irfan said.
However, the pacer, who made it to the top earlier than his elder brother Yusuf, said he has age by his side. Not many people have achieved what Ive at at the age of 23-24 and I am very happy for that.
Irfan also rubbished suggestions that his increased focus on batting had affected his bowling. I dont think it has affected my bowling. At junior level for Baroda, I have batted at No. 3 and 4 positions, so I dont think it is an issue.
On the controversial whereabouts clause in WADA that has been rejected by the Indian cricketers and the board, Irfan said, I dont think anybody is against WADA… We (all the sportpersons) strongly condemn doping. The Board is sorting out the matter.
Asked whether he would like to take some tips from Wasim Akram, who has praised him in the past, Irfan said, Im really thankful to him. But we will remain busy with the domestic season beginning September . But when I get a chance, I would speak to him.
The contentious whereabouts clause of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), which has deterred the Indian players from accepting the WADA code will be one of the high points of discussion at the Board of Control for Cricket in Indias working committee meeting, to be held at its headquarters Cricket Centre here on Thursday.
Eleven Indian cricketers, including two women, have refused to agree to the clause which requires them to furnish their whereabout (one hour each day) for the next three months citing security fears. The BCCI has backed the players saying the players security is important. Apart from this, there are many other crucial decisions to be taken and the issues on the agenda will include the ratification of the induction of ex-Indian Cricket League (ICL) players of India into IPL.
The meeting will also decide on the appointment of a new batting coach for the National Cricket Academy and what brand of balls to be used during matches in India. The deteriorating quality of SG balls has triggered a debate whether India should opt for the Australian Kookaburra balls or not. The status of the domestic Deodhar Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 meet will also be discussed. The working committee will also clear the accounts forwarded by the finance committee which met on Wednesday.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has hit back at Indian cricketers for refusing to accept the ‘whereabouts’ clause.
WADA chief John Fahey says this decision by the Indian players, and the board, can have far reaching consequences – much beyond cricket.
By choosing not to sign WADA’s anti-doping code, Indian cricketers have triggered a heated stand-off. The players want the ‘whereabouts’ clause removed, saying it violates their right to privacy.
But WADA is adament that no exception can be made for Indian cricketers alone.
In a scathing attack on the players, WADA president John Fahey said, “it’s a tragedy to see a few wealthy individual cricketers decide that they are above clean sport and the rules that have to be applied to ensure that sport is clean.”
The WADA chief feels such an attitude could jeopardise the sanctity of the Commonwealth Games, which will be held in New Delhi next year.
“What sort of a message are these cricketers giving? We’re keen to see India progress in anti-doping and ensure that the Commonwealth Games are well and truly controlled from a drug perspective,” said Fahey.
The WADA chief has made it clear that there will be no direct dialogue with Indian cricketers, and that it’s upto the ICC to convince MS Dhoni and his team to sign the code in its present form.
The ICC has taken appropriate steps to try and resolve the stand-off between BCCI and the WADA regarding the signing of the anti-doping contract which consists of the contentious ‘whereabouts’ clause. There has been a five-member committee which has been formed to look into the matter and suggest the best way forward.
This committee will be called the International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) working group and will consist of Tim Kerr, chairman of ICC Anti-Doping panel, Haroon Lorgat, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, ICC principal advisor IS Bindra and former India captain Anil Kumble. Kumble is a part of the WADA Athlete Committee, where as Tim Kerr will preside over the proceedings.
The BCCI, at the behest of the Indian players had raised objections to the controversial ‘whereabouts’ clause which required the Indian cricketers – and the others as well – to reveal their location for one hour for each of the days in the next three months. This is a norm for all the other sports and ensures that the testing can be done with an element of surprise. However, the Indian cricketers have refused to sign the clause because they consider it to be a violation of their privacy and a security hazard.
The BCCI has already said that there are at least two Indian cricketers, who cannot reveal their whereabouts to a third party for security reasons, and the problem is across the board.
The IRTP will now meet up and an amicable solution will be endeavoured to be found
The ICC has formed a committee to resolve the concerns of the Indian board regarding the controversial ‘whereabouts’ clause of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) code.
The International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) working group will be chaired by Tim Kerr, chairman of ICC Anti-Doping panel, and also includes ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, ICC principal advisor IS Bindra and former India captain Anil Kumble, who sits on WADA’s Athlete Committee.
Eleven Indian players are in the ICC’s drug testing pool, and they have raised concerns about the clause, which requires them to inform the ICC at the beginning of every quarter (three-month period) of the year, a location and time that they will be available for an hour each day in that quarter for testing. The BCCI and the players were worried about security risks involved in providing whereabouts information in advance and have also said that the clause is a violation of privacy statutes.
No dates have yet been set for a meeting of the IRTP panel, which was formed after the BCCI announced on Sunday that it would not require its players to file the ‘whereabouts’ information. WADA has been invited to send a representative to advice the panel.
Lorgat reiterated that the ICC and the Indian board were keen to resolve the impasse at the earliest. “I am pleased we have constituted this group as I believe it will help to resolve the practical concerns of India players,” Lorgat said. “All of us – the ICC and its members including India – are committed to a zero-tolerance approach in the area of anti-doping.”
The BCCI and the Indian board faced plenty of flak for their decision to not abide by the WADA code, including the country’s sports minister. Cricketers from all other countries and India’s top athletes have accepted the anti-doping regulations.
One of the BCCI’s suggestions for solving the problem was to introduce a new cricket-specific code, and asking the ICC to walk out of the WADA umbrella.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is confident Indias cricket authorities will eventually comply with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)s whereabouts rule, its chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said. It is a difficult situation to be in no doubt but we are confident of convincing the Indian players and the BCCI, Lorgat said. The ICC became a signatory to WADA in 2006 and its board last year unanimously approved out-of-competition tests on cricketers in accordance with amendments made by WADA to the code. Every board has signed the code and were sure the Indian players and the BCCI president, Shashank Manohar, will understand this, Lorgat said. Even if they dont agree they need to abide by the universal code in the larger interest of the game. We cannot reject the code. We have to implement it. All we need to do now is to properly explain to the BCCI the need to be WADA-compliant.
WADAs whereabouts clause, which has caused so much furore, may be modified, or as an extreme measure, even scrapped next year. The clause, which came into effect from January 1 this year, has been implemented on a trial basis. WADA, which decided to implement it after extensive consultations with sports bodies, will analyze the practical aspects by the end of this year, before deciding whether to keep it in its current form, modify, or scrap it altogether.
Wada will look at the manner in which the whereabouts clause is being enforced by the Code signatories and will assess the situation at the end of the year, the dope regulatory bodys senior manager (communications ), Frederic Donze told TOI via email on Thursday.
The official, however, added: The overwhelming majority of feedback that WADA has received from athletes about the whereabouts requirements has been positive . Of course, he wasnt talking about the Indian cricketers, who have given this clause a thumbs-down .
Cricket being a team game, the players do not have to convey to WADA their whereabouts for the next three months individually, he explained. The only difference between individual sports and team sports is that under the International Standard for Testing, in team sports, whereabouts information can be submitted by team officials on a collective basis as part of the teams activities, Donze said.
The players, however , can update their whereabouts information any time they want and in case they miss a test, the player, and not the team official, will be held responsible. There cannot be an exception to the whereabouts rule. There is no exception or concession whatsoever for any sport as relates to the World Anti-Doping Code, he added. If the Indian cricketers refuse to divulge their whereabouts, ICC would have to pull out of the agreement with WADA. After all, WADA is not responsible for deciding who should be part of registered testing pools. This is the responsibility of every International Federation and National Anti-Doping Organization, Donze said. All Olympic and IOCrecognized International Sport Federations, including the ICC, have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and are responsible for implementing it and enforcing it, including the whereabouts requirements.
Talking about the fears raised regarding invasion of privacy, Donze said that every signatory knew that the whereabouts clause would be enforced this year and they had in fact, agreed to it. All organizations and individuals , including athletes who decided to participate in the extensive consultation that resulted in the coming into force of a revised World Anti-Doping Code on January 1, agreed that those whereabouts requirements were sensible, proportionate and part of the responsibility of top level athletes to protect the integrity of their sport, Donze said. Therefore, ICC had entered the agreement with full knowledge of the whereabouts clause. Clearly, there has been a communication gap between crickets governing body and the players, and this needs to be sorted out as soon as possible.
Yuvraj Singh has hit back at the criticism over the Indian cricketers’ decision to reject the World Anti Doping Agency’s regulations concerning drug testing, asking for cricketers to be treated differently from other sportsmen.
“Their sports and our sport is different,” he said. “We play more and we get very little time with our families and I feel we are travelling more. We are playing a lot of time in a year and we should be given more space, with due respect to other sports.”
The 11 Indian cricketers in the ICC’s testing pool have raised concerns that the code’s ‘whereabouts’ clause that will require them to divulge information about their location three months in advance and say that this that could violate privacy and threaten their security. However, several top Indian athletes previously tested by WADA have said the code does not infringe on privacy.
The extensive travelling, Yuvraj said, gave India’s cricketers too few days to spend at home each year. “After nine months of playing, we come home for just ten days,” he told news channel CNN-IBN. “We don’t want somebody to intrude upon our privacy for dope tests during that small period. We have put out our points in front of the BCCI and they will speak to the ICC.”
The Indian sports minister MS Gill endorsed the view, saying all national sports bodies and players should support the WADA and adhere to its regulations. The BCCI plans to ask the ICC to walk out of the WADA umbrella and develop a cricket-specific anti-doping code, but cricket’s governing body is unlikely to support such a suggestion.
Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday termed Sports Minister M S Gill’s view that cricketers should sign the World Anti-Doping Agency clause as his personal opinion and claimed that the Cricket Board would stick to its own stance.
Reacting over Gill’s comments, BCCI spokesman Shukla said the matter was now between BCCI and ICC and there was no need to raise the issue with the Sports Ministry.
‘The Sports Minister has got his personal view on the subject but we at BCCI have taken a position which ensures what is promised in the Indian constitution,’ Shukla told mediamen.
The ‘whereabout’ clause of the WADA code has become the bone of contention with the 11 Indian cricketers in the WADA pool refusing to sign the provision which requires them to inform there whereabouts three months in advance, which they consider a breach of privacy and a security risk as well.
BCCI has already thrown its weight behind the cricketers and has asked ICC, a WADA signatory, to explore the option of having an anti-doping mechanism of its own.
Having decided to support its players on the World Anti-Doping Agencys contentious whereabouts clause, the BCCI has now told the ICC that any negotiations on the issue would be between ICC and WADA, and not with BCCI. Indias top cricketers have refused to accept the international clause requiring sportspersons to disclose their whereabouts in advance.
Board president Shashank Manohar refused to be drawn into stating whether India was once again gearing up for a clash with the sports parent body. However, as much as Manohar sought to bring peaceful negotiations to the table, it remains clear that BCCI is treading a path which no other member board of ICC was openly willing to take.
It is not just the Indian players who are apprehensive about WADAs out-of-competition testing clause. Players from other countries too felt equally insecure before signing up. However , it is only the Indian cricketers who have openly spoken about the subject.
We believe the clause with regard to whereabouts of cricketers is unreasonable for three reasons. First, some (Indian) cricketers have security cover, and when you have such cover, you cannot disclose your whereabouts to a third person. Second, the privacy of individuals cannot be invaded. Third, the Indian constitution guarantees every citizen his privacy, Manohar said after BCCIs working committee meeting on Sunday where five senior cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were present along with ICC officials.
Manohar subsequently also provided a solution to the deadlock in the meeting, certainly the players point of view, when he added: We can appreciate players being tested even when they are not playing. But if ICC or WADA want to test the players, they can inform the board which will get the players at the required location within 24 hours. This is our suggestion.
A couple of things Manohar said might not find many takers in the international sporting community. He referred to some Indian cricketers having security cover because of which their whereabouts were difficult to divulge. But the biggest names in world sport, like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong, too have agreed to the same WADA norms. They have done so despite being as apprehensive about it as Indias superstar cricketers.
