Mustafizur Rahman (AFP Photo)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday offered its first response to the ongoing controversy surrounding Bangladesh’s request to play its T20 World Cup matches outside India. The BCCI top brass reviewed operations at its Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru and also discussed plans to streamline India U-19 and India A tours going forward, board secretary Devajit Saikia told PTI.Following the meeting, Saikia was asked about Bangladesh approaching the International Cricket Council (ICC) to seek a shift of its T20 World Cup games out of India after the BCCI instructed IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman from its roster amid the prevailing relations between the two countries.

Saikia responded: “The meeting was about CoE and other cricketing matters. It’s not our domain to talk about that (as the ICC has the final say on Bangladesh’s participation in the T20 World Cup).”The meeting, held in Mumbai, was also attended by BCCI president Mithun Manhas, vice-president Rajeev Shukla and head of cricket at the CoE VVS Laxman. Several key technical positions at the CoE, which became fully operational in April last year, remain vacant, including the roles of head of education and head of sports science.“We assessed the vacancies at CoE and decided to go ahead with the recruitment process soon. There is an acute shortage of technical personnel worldwide, but we are trying to fill the positions at the earliest,” Saikia said.Reviewing the operations at the CoE and outlining the way forward, Saikia added: “We thought it was an appropriate time to review the preparations and activities of CoE.“We are hosting matches on the three grounds there (including the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy). We also talked about how the A tours need to be scheduled going forward.“In certain situations, the A side and senior team are touring together at the same time. We need to ensure that there is no overlap. An A tour is an important supply line of cricketers,” said the cricketer-turned-lawyer from Assam.