da pinup bet： The president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India AC Muthiahon Sunday discounted reports that some Indian cricketers had usedperformance enhancing steroids
09-Jul-2001The president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India AC Muthiahon Sunday discounted reports that some Indian cricketers had usedperformance enhancing steroids."I don’t think our players are involved in any such drug issue,’ hetold a press conference in Chennai after the annual general meeting ofthe Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.However, he said the International Cricket Council was "working outcertain methods to avoid drug abuse if it is prevalent amongstcricketers."Muthiah said the drug issue was discussed at length during an ICCmeeting last month and "we are awaiting the decisions and the BCCIwill also follow the ICC system when it is in place."To a question whether the BCCI proposed to take random samples ofIndian team members for dope testing, Muthiah said there was nolaboratory facility available in the country for such tests. Even forhorses, samples were being sent abroad.A cover story in ‘Outlook’ magazine had alleged that some players,including Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar have resortedto drug-taking in the past. But, team manager Chetan Chauhan hasalready denied the charges.Muthiah said building up a strong second string Indian team was beinggiven top priority and the board had plans to send the players toSouth Africa, New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka to provideinternational exposure.Stating that the u-19 and u-16 teams had proved their worth by winningthe world-level tournaments in the respective age categories, Muthiahsaid the BCCI had decided to give them the best opportunities toperform better.Muthiah also expressed happiness at the performance of the Indian teamin the just concluded Zimbabwe tour. "The middle order batsmen hadproved their worth despite losing the one-day triangular series finalto West Indies. Both the Test and one-day series were within India’sreach," he added.On amendments to the BCCI constitution, Muthiah said the specialgeneral body meeting of the board convened for the purpose in Januarywas postponed due to paucity of time. In the meantime, certainadditions had been proposed by the three-member committee set up forthe purpose and these would be placed for discussions at the nextworking committee meeting before being taken up for a decision at aspecial AGM.On revoking the two-year ban on the Punjab Cricket AssociationPresident IS Bindra from attending the board meetings, he said thedecision to slap the ban was taken by the general body. A decisionwould be taken shortly on the matter.Muthiah said the TNCA had decided to acquire land for setting up ofthe South Zone cricket academy and had earmarked Rs one crore for thepurpose.